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Basin Electric says planned power plant not driven by data centers • North Dakota Monitor [1]
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Date: 2025-06-30
Basin Electric Power Cooperative officials testified Monday that data centers are not behind the need for a natural gas-fired power plant in northwest North Dakota but it is getting requests from potential large-load customers.
Basin officials made comments Monday at a Public Service Commission hearing in Williston on its proposed Bison Generation Station near Epping in eastern Williams County.
The project would generate electricity from natural gas that is abundant in North Dakota’s oil-producing region. It also would generate power by using steam produced by the plant to turn turbines.
The nearly $4 billion Bison Generation Station would be the first combined-cycle power plant in North Dakota.
Basin Electric describes the project as one of the largest power generation projects in the cooperative’s history.
Benjamin Hertz, manager of power supply planning for Basin Electric, said the company is forecasting higher levels of power use from traditional customers.
“Much of this is due to oil and gas related activity in this region,” Hertz testified Monday.
Basin Electric, which provides power to smaller electric co-ops, last week announced it is developing a program to deal with large-load customers such as data centers.
Hertz said Basin Electric has been approached with a great number of large load requests throughout its service territory that could require more power generation.
“Basin Electric has resolved to plan for new large loads and data centers separately from its traditional load growth,” Hertz said. “This program has been designed to protect Basin Electric’s existing member rate-payers.”
The Bison Generation Station would have two roughly 745-megawatt units to produce about 1,490 megawatts of power.
Jody DeLong testified as chair of the board for North Dakota Native Vote and as a concerned citizen.
He questioned the need for such a large power plant, especially if it is not needed for data centers.
He called the project a “$4 billion gamble” with no explanation for how it will benefit rate-payers while adding to greenhouse gas emissions.
“There’s no clear, detailed load data for local communities, including the Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative, or other cooperatives in North Dakota, which would demonstrate an urgent or unmet energy need among residents,” DeLong said.
The three-person Public Service Commission regulates for-profit electric utilities but not for member-owned cooperatives.
Construction on the project could begin this year with the power plant being fully in service in 2030.
At peak construction in 2027, the project would employ about 1,000 people. It would employ about 50 people when complete.
The PSC took no action after Monday’s hearing. Basin Electric will provide commissioners with more information in the coming weeks.
In addition to PSC approval, the project will need a permit from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.
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