This tiny North Dakota town was the only place to vote in support of data centers
Among 45 data center propositions on the ballot during the midterms, only one small town voted against reining them in.
TL;DR
- Voters across the country rejected data center propositions, with the exception of Harwood, North Dakota.
- Harwood residents voted down a measure that would have given them more say in the construction of large projects like AI data centers.
- A $3 billion AI data center is currently under construction in Harwood, employing a significant portion of the town's population.
- The town's mayor did not support the measure, stating it was financially burdensome and imprecisely worded.
- Proponents of the measure felt blindsided by the rapid approval of the current data center and wanted more community oversight.
- The decision to approve the current data center was made quickly to secure local tax benefits over a neighboring city.