Whether or not the Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission invite hyperscale data centers into South Dakota, South Dakotans are already footing the bill for the power needs of AI-boomers in other states:
But there is one side of the equation that doesn’t depend on local policy decisions. South Dakota is part of a regional electrical grid called Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) — the operator responsible for energy flow across 15 Midwestern states, serving more than 42 million consumers. When that grid expands its infrastructure, the costs are shared among all member states, regardless of where the construction takes place.
In December 2024, MISO approved a $21.8 billion transmission expansion plan: 24 projects, two of which run directly through South Dakota. Part of that bill will be passed on to South Dakota consumers. This will happen even if no data center is ever built within the state. The expansion is driven largely by data center demand in other states across the region [Nina Luz, “The Energy Price of Artificial Intelligence: What South Dakota Stands to Gain and Pay,” Dakota Institute, 2026.06.28].
So we’re already paying more for electricity just to create more lying robots. Does South Dakota want to make the world worse by powering those robots with noisy server warehouses on our own turf?
Wait! SD is eating some of the energy costs of Manitoba’s data center shells but not getting any benefits?
Are sure you’re putting that German American stubborn contrariness to its best purposes?
Kristi refused nat’l money just for obstinance and few complained.
Wise up.
https://apnews.com/article/epa-data-centers-ai-public-comment-states-947eb927ae81162ad4cc3e828915c804
WASHINGTON (AP) — A plan by the Environmental Protection Agency could make it harder for the public to learn about and comment on proposed AI data centers that have sparked backlash in communities across the United States and transformed the midterm election landscape.
Everybody who is opposed to data centers needs to turn off their cell phones, laptops, computers, close out their bank accounts, stop ordering stuff on Amazon and stop using scan and go at Walmart
In fact, you should just quit using electricity altogether. Be Amish.
My new washing machine has a remote start feature which uses wi-fi. Wi-Fi?? To do the laundry???
If you want to use wi-Fi to do your laundry, you’re going to have to deal with the data centers.
That is all.