What was said about data centers in South Dakota
26 statements from 19 speakers, grouped by who spoke. Each appears as said, with the date and the source. No verdict is attached.
From August 25, 2026 to September 23, 2026. Statements from every state are on Statements.
Government 4
Officials in office, lawmakers, regulators, public agencies and courts, federal, state, tribal and local. Every state.
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Community Development Director, Rapid City
Vicki Fisher, Community Development Director for Rapid City, says communities have experienced issues with data centers including water usage, sewer impact, electric usage, noise and vibration
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Stephen Tamang, Rapid City Council President, says that right now large scale data centers are not a net positive and are not welcome in Rapid City from his standpoint
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Joel Arends, Lincoln County commissioner, proposed a moratorium to pause hyperscale data center development and allow time for local government understanding
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Jennifer McNamara, Lincoln County Speaker, suggested considering company ownership location requirements in data center ordinance parameters
Investors and finance 1
Investors, funds, banks and the firms that rate and finance data centers. Every state.
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entrepreneur
Mark Cuban warned that communities need to protect themselves from data center projects with transparency requirements, punitive compliance measures, and facility closure bonds.
Utilities and grid operators 1
Electric utilities, cooperatives and the operators of the power grid, and the people who speak for them. Every state.
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Black Hills Energy business development manager
Eric Wolff, business development manager for Black Hills Energy, said Sequitor Edge data center may be at risk of not coming to fruition due to the city's regulatory efforts
Candidates and campaigns 15
People running for office, their campaigns and their parties. A candidate who does not hold the office is not an official. Every state.
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Erinn Williams, District 14 House candidate, argues data center opponents have legitimate concerns about water and power consumption and resource drain
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Rob Skjonsberg, Rounds campaign advisor, defended South Dakota's existing regulations governing data center development and local control
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Independent U.S. Senate candidate
Brian Bengs said he wants to ensure community interests are prioritized as the data center industry expands
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Brian Bengs, Independent U.S. Senate candidate, said Senator Mike Rounds received more campaign money from AI and data center companies than from South Dakota donors
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Democratic candidate for South Dakota Public Utilities Commission
Kloucek said a moratorium would give people time to do homework and watch what's happening in other states, and expressed concern about putting consumers of electricity, natural gas, and water at risk
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Democratic candidate for South Dakota Public Utilities Commission
Kloucek said data center development is the number one issue facing South Dakota
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Don Haggar, Republican candidate for South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, said the state does enough regulation on data centers
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Frank Kloucek, Democratic candidate for South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, advocated for a one year moratorium on data center development in the state
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South Dakota Senate candidate, District 32
Jeff Shelton, Senate candidate from District 32, says voters have told candidates knocking on doors that data centers are not wanted in South Dakota
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South Dakota House of Representatives candidate, District 9
Amanda Potter, House candidate from District 9, says the pledge represents a meaningful commitment to action on data center expansion
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A group of South Dakota Democratic legislative candidates signed a pledge to establish protections against data centres.
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South Dakota Democratic legislative candidates
The pledge identifies tax incentives for data centres as an unacceptable policy issue.
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District 11 House candidate
Sonja Mentzer, Democratic candidate for District 11 house seat, said millions of dollars from data centres flowed into races in the June primary.
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Amanda Potter, District 9 House candidate, said data centres at the hyper scale level are a top issue on voters' minds.
Other voices 5
Journalists, lawyers, former officials, and speakers the source describes in words that name none of the groups above. Every state.
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The Dakota Scout
Frank Kloucek is a candidate for the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission
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businessman and writer from the Black Hills
John Tsitrian says data center projects deserve examination and debate, not blanket opposition, arguing that some have succeeded while others have failed
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Amanda Potter and Jeff Shelton
The pledge commits signers to draft data center regulations before the first day of the 2027 legislative session in January.
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Gabriel Brito, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
Amanda Potter, Democratic candidate for HD-9, and Jeff Shelton, Democratic candidate for SD-32, started the Data Center Accountability Pledge.
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Amanda Potter and Jeff Shelton
The pledge includes a refusal to take money from individuals or organizations interested in data center development.
The group comes from the words the source gives for the speaker; how the groups are read. Every statement on the record is in CSV and JSON, with its group and its state.
