The Dallas -based company aims to break ground on its Polaris Forge 2 project in Harwood, a small town near Fargo, in September. The 900-acre, 280-megawatt project would be Applied's third data center campus in North Dakota's southeast corner.
Applied provides the physical infrastructure that technology companies use for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and cryptocurrency operations. The Harwood facility would be an artificial intelligence data center.
Negotiations are ongoing with the customer for the Polaris Forge 2 project, Applied spokesman Nick Phillips said in an interview. He could not disclose what companies Applied is speaking with but said they were "hyperscalers," a term that refers to "just a few large tech companies."
"Because we're in a good spot, we are able to break ground on it," he said.
The project was not publicly announced until Monday. Enough local permits are expected to be worked out through the next month for the company to start moving dirt in September, Phillips said.
"We're still working on some things through that; hopefully we'll work that all out shortly," he said, later adding, "We certainly love to get to know our neighbors and it's a new set of neighbors to get to know here, so we'll be making a big effort to get to know everybody, but we're early in that, too, we couldn't just go talk about it to everybody in the world until this announcement was made."
The data center would be on private land in the city's extraterritorial zone, Harwood Mayor Blake Hankey told the Tribune. The land's zoning classification would need to be changed from agricultural to commercial and the company would need a building permit, he said.
WHERE WILL APPLIED GET THE ELECTRICITY FOR THE PROJECT?
Applied's existing fleet of data centers include a 100-megawatt facility in Jamestown and multiple facilities in Ellendale that when completely built out would use 530 megawatts of power. For comparison, the cities of Bismarck and Mandan, combined with the local oil refinery, require 180 megawatts of power when demands are highest, according to the testimony of a utility regulator.
These facilities in Jamestown and Ellendale are supplied with power by Bismarck -based Montana-Dakota Utilities. Those arrangements have resulted in some financial benefits to consumers through refunds on utility bills that were required by utility regulators at the state Public Service Commission for the electric service agreements.
In some parts of the country, including western North Dakota, the large power demands from data centers have been attributed to driving up electric rates.
Applied chose this location because there is available power on transmission lines, meaning Polaris Forge 2 would not cause electric prices for other consumers to go up, Phillips said.
The project would take power from Cass County Electric Cooperative, which distributes power generated by Minnkota Power Cooperative. Minnkota owns the coal plant in Oliver County along with multiple wind farms in eastern North Dakota.
Electric rates for Minnkota Power Cooperative are not regulated by the PSC, which only regulates investor-owned utilities such as MDU. The co-ops and Applied are still finalizing a contract.
"At least we expect electricity rates to be par with what they are; we're not going to negatively impact rates," Phillips said.
Data centers have also been criticized by environmentalists because of their large water demands for cooling.
Water demands at North Dakota data centers are smaller because of how cold the state is, Phillips said. Applied also uses a "closed-loop water system" at its facilities that allows for water to be recirculated, further lowering demand.
The Harwood data center's water demands would be similar to about two households, according to Phillips.
WILL APPLIED KEEP BUILDING MORE DATA CENTERS IN NORTH DAKOTA?
Officials have sought to attract power-hungry data centers to North Dakota, in part because the state produces a lot of energy without always having a reliable means of exporting it.
During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers declined to institute a state siting process for large power users like data centers while they increased a financial guarantee for a natural gas pipeline that would cross the state to $500 million, from $300 million, over a decade. If built, that pipeline would power new data centers, according to the companies applying for the guarantee.
Applied provided a letter of support for one of the projects under consideration.
"Our hope is that the pipeline gets done and that would enable more (natural gas electric) generation to be built nearby to allow us to expand," Phillips said.
Polaris Forge 2 would employee 200 people full time once construction is complete, according to Applied.
Hankey does not anticipate much of a strain on housing and other services in Harwood because Fargo is so close to it, he said, though he would be happy to see some growth in his city, too.
The data center announcement was praised by state and local leaders, including Gov. Kelly Armstrong.
"North Dakota wins when companies like Applied Digital choose to be more than an employer. In Ellendale, they invested in people through workforce housing and created strong local partnerships that strengthen the community," he said in a statement.
“We’re excited that they are committing to expanding their presence in North Dakota with a Harwood location, continuing the trend of being a positive corporate citizen and helping to develop our rural communities while contributing to our strong economy,” the governor said.
©2025 The Bismarck Tribune, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
