Mandan Data center pushback

[eyexer]

Not a single one of those positives has been seen in Williston. The construction jobs only lasted 18 months and like I said 50% of the payroll went to out of state workers. There are seven full time jobs at this crypto mining facility. And their pay is in the low 20’s an hour. In the oil field that’s Walmart type wages. Our electrical rates have taken a fairly big jump instead of keeping steady or reducing. I know of zero new homes built due to this facility and I’m in the construction business. There has been zero positive from this. But several negatives. Such as increased electrical rates. Our tax dollars being used to defend the lawsuit that was filed against the county. Massive noise pollution. I live 3 miles from the facility and can hear it on a very regular basis. We are still owed $425,000 for work performed on this facility. We had to sue. We won the lawsuit but due to the current law structure they can dick around for a long time before they actually have to pay up. Home values for homes within two miles of this facility have dropped to basically zero. There isn’t a single positive from this crypto center

 

[Eatsleeptrap]

AI generated….

Yep.

 

[Lycanthrope]

AI generated….

why would I spend hours researching when AI gives me a good answer in 30 seconds?

 

[Lycanthrope]

Not a single one of those positives has been seen in Williston. The construction jobs only lasted 18 months and like I said 50% of the payroll went to out of state workers. There are seven full time jobs at this crypto mining facility. And their pay is in the low 20’s an hour. In the oil field that’s Walmart type wages. Our electrical rates have taken a fairly big jump instead of keeping steady or reducing. I know of zero new homes built due to this facility and I’m in the construction business. There has been zero positive from this. But several negatives. Such as increased electrical rates. Our tax dollars being used to defend the lawsuit that was filed against the county. Massive noise pollution. I live 3 miles from the facility and can hear it on a very regular basis. We are still owed $425,000 for work performed on this facility. We had to sue. We won the lawsuit but due to the current law structure they can dick around for a long time before they actually have to pay up. Home values for homes within two miles of this facility have dropped to basically zero. There isn’t a single positive from this crypto center

crypto mining isnt the same as AI datacenters, they dont have nearly the $$$ to throw around, to benefit communities and build infrastructure, provide high paid jobs, etc. Apples and oranges.

 

[Jiffy]

why would I spend hours researching when AI gives me a good answer in 30 seconds?

Exactly….the problem

 

[Colt45]

Exactly….the problem

I gave you a laugh as comrade camper isn't available to do it
AI is actually way smarter than you, sorry I had to break the news

 

[Eatsleeptrap]

 

[Jiffy]

Pretty sure the one down in Ellendale started with 3 or 4 buildings. Now I believe they’re up to 6? I’d have to double check that, however it is turning to a classic “give an inch and they’ll take a mile”.

Drive by it sometime, it’s gorgeous!!

 

[guywhofishes]

the scale of the Harwood project is unbelievable. They set up their own cement plant, there’s a gigantic man camp, you name it. It’s a jaw dropper to see.

 

[Jiffy]

I rode by it yesterday.

Lovely

 

[guywhofishes]

Cty 26 has depressed wheel tracks from hell - as a result of heavy traffic hauling gravel from MN pits I imagine.

 

[eyexer]

crypto mining isnt the same as AI datacenters, they dont have nearly the $$$ to throw around, to benefit communities and build infrastructure, provide high paid jobs, etc. Apples and oranges.

the problem is you don’t know if it’s actually gonna be an AI center lol. I would guess most aren’t. The higher bitcoin goes the more they want to build these facilities. Before they started building these large facilities they were setting up mining operations on oil well sites. They were in 40’ shipping containers with power produced from generators using well head gas.

 

[Allen]

why would I spend hours researching when AI gives me a good answer in 30 seconds?

I think the peanut gallery would differ on the assessment of the AI assist.

 

[Fly Carpin]

why would I spend hours researching when AI gives me a good answer in 30 seconds?

Now report on those job numbers from a source that doesn't have an imprint of Sam Altman's nuts on its chin

 

[Iwhackwheat]

Anytime I see a response taken from AI…

 

[Lycanthrope]

Anytime I see a response taken from AI…

If you are just asking for info, usually Ill just let AI summarize it. If something requires an opinion, usually Ill tell AI what my opinion is, have it fact check or refute it, then summarize what my opinion is after considering the new information I get from AI. If Im skeptical about info one AI provides, I will bounce that AIs info off another AI to see if it finds any errors. purely opinion based responses that dont require research, Ill often type out myself still. I wouldnt run what my favorite color is through AI before responding, for example. lol

 

[eyexer]

It was only a few years ago there was talk about potential brown outs in ND. I know of no law that would force power companies to provide power to residences before power to data centers. So the massive one that has been approved in Williston is very interesting in that respect. During one public hearing they had an artist rendering of the facility. There were a couple areas that had all kinds of little square specs on the rendering. They were setup on basically a grid pattern. Someone asked what on were those. Well the answer was standby generators. When quizzed further they were all cat 3512 industrial engines with 1.2 megawatt gen’s on them. These are the same setups used to run oil rigs and the rigs have three of these. The rendering shows something like 240 of these setups. It was also acknowledge they would test run these once a month. I actually worked on these exact units for several years so I’m extremely knowledgeable on these. When the panel was quizzed about the noise of the testing they said oh we have that resolved. They will only be able to run them on the day we do the monthly testing of the civil defense sirens lol. Can’t make this shit up. Of course the panel, because they have zero knowledge, didn’t dig into the fact they take 30-45 minutes of warmup time before you could even put one inline to test the gen output. I don’t know if any of you have any experience being close to one of these while running but the sound is immense but the vibration 240 of these would put out would blow your mind. It would be like a train driving through your living room. So this is just an example why you can’t have political approving these things. They have zero knowledge of anything to do with them. I have little doubt there will be an initiated measure to end these centers and they will be finished.

 

[ale]

And today out of the blue the governor is pushing back against Missouri River water regs. So we can open the dam at full generating capacity and drain Sak and suck the river down even faster just to supply these things. Not for farms or fertilizer businesses though.

My issue isn’t with the data centers per se. It’s the preferential treatment al a tax breaks, water usage (if they were true closed loops they wouldn’t need such massive water permits), the noise, the light pollution, the utilities cost to the public, the foreign ownership, the shadiness of what they are used for, should I go on?

If they’re so great let private companies develop and build them abiding by the same laws every other business follows. I’m tired of helping multi billion dollar entities corner the market same as I’m tired of helping able bodied people sit at home.

 

[Lycanthrope]

And today out of the blue the governor is pushing back against Missouri River water regs. So we can open the dam at full generating capacity and drain Sak and suck the river down even faster just to supply these things. Not for farms or fertilizer businesses though.

My issue isn’t with the data centers per se. It’s the preferential treatment al a tax breaks, water usage (if they were true closed loops they wouldn’t need such massive water permits), the noise, the light pollution, the utilities cost to the public, the foreign ownership, the shadiness of what they are used for, should I go on?

If they’re so great let private companies develop and build them abiding by the same laws every other business follows. I’m tired of helping multi billion dollar entities corner the market same as I’m tired of helping able bodied people sit at home.

did you research why gov is pushing back against water regs at all? From what Ive seen it doesnt appear to have anything to do with AI...

 

[tikkalover]

Gov. Armstrong pushes back on proposed Missouri River water limits​

North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong and five other western governors sent a joint letter to Congress, pushing back against a proposal that would restrict their authority to use Missouri River water as they see fit.

Section 120 of the 2026 Water Resources Development Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives on Sept. 16, looks to prohibit states along the Missouri River from diverting water to states not containing the river, unless unanimously approved by the governors of the Missouri River states.

These states include Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Wyoming.

“Neither the federal government nor any individual state gets to tell North Dakota how to use Missouri River water as it passes through our state,” Gov. Armstrong said. “Our right to use Missouri River water as we deem necessary, is clearly established in both state and federal law, and we will strongly resist any attempt to infringe on that authority.”

The governors say the proposal could delay future water projects.