10
Loading video...
By Amanda Greenwood
Associate News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A North Dakota town bucked the national trend by voting against tighter rules for large projects, including data centers.
On November 3, voters in Harwood rejected plans to bring in stricter checks for large developments, including data centers.
The proposal would have required qualifying projects to undergo measures such as an independent professional review of technical information, make more information available to the public, hold at least one public hearing, and provide written findings backed by “substantial” evidence before receiving city approval.
Read More on News
According to the results published by Ballotpedia, 325 people voted against the amendment while 105 supported it, meaning roughly 76 percent of the 430 votes that were cast were against the measure to bring in additional review requirements for large developments, including data centers.
That result made Harwood a major outlier during an election in which voters elsewhere overwhelmingly backed measures seeking to restrict, scrutinize, or oppose data center developments.
Why It Matters
In September 2025, the Harwood City Council approved rezoning 320 acres from agricultural to light industrial use, paving the way for Texas-based Applied Digital to build a multibillion-dollar facility.
The project had already generated local controversy. A report from the nonprofit Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), which works with residents concerned about development projects, said the community had voiced concerns about noise, water use, air quality, electricity bills, traffic, and the effect a hyperscale facility could have on the community's “small-town” character.
The November measure wouldn’t have affected the existing Applied Digital development, but it would’ve introduced a new review process for future large projects, if it had passed.
Harwood Mayor Blake Hankey, who opposed the amendment, has also pushed back against presenting the result as a simple referendum on data centers. He said the proposal wasn’t limited to data centers and could have affected other businesses seeking to develop in the city, arguing that its requirements "would have been financially burdensome to a city our size."
The debate has exposed a divide over how much say residents should have in major development decisions.
Mike Swartz, who advocated for the amendment, said residents had been "blindsided" by how quickly the existing data center project moved forward and questioned whether people living alongside such developments had enough influence over decisions affecting their community.
How Data Center Measures Fared Elsewhere
The Harwood result stood in stark contrast with the broader picture from the November 3 elections.
Data center-related measures appeared on ballots across 10 states as voters confronted questions about the rapid expansion of infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
An analysis by Ballotpedia found voters sided with measures limiting or expressing opposition to data center development in 40 of 41 local contests it tracked.
Harwood was the only exception.
The successful measures took several different approaches rather than imposing one single type of restriction.
Twenty-seven measures directly limiting data center development or showing local opposition to new projects were approved, according to Ballotpedia.
...
These included:
- Five full data center bans in California, Florida, and Ohio
- Twelve partial bans across Kansas, Maine, and Ohio
- Three six-month moratoriums in Maine
- Two measures in Illinois expressing opposition to data center development
Other measures imposed zoning requirements or required voters to approve developments crossing specified thresholds for land, electricity, or water consumption.
With Applied Digital's project already moving ahead and city officials warning that the amendment could affect developments beyond data centers, Harwood offered voters a substantially different choice from communities considering outright bans or moratoriums.
That distinction may help explain why, as much of the country used the ballot box to apply the brakes to the data center boom, Harwood went the other way.
Newsweek has contacted Mayor Hankey for comment.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Cristina Diciu.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines