Basin Electric and NextEra Energy Resources hold an open house for proposed River Run Energy Center

Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric), in partnership with NextEra Energy Resources, is exploring the development of the River Run Energy Center, a 1,450-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas generation facility and associated multi-gigawatt data center campus in Mercer County, North Dakota.

As part of their extensive outreach program, including opportunities for the community to learn more about the project, share their perspectives, and to ask questions, the public was invited to attend an open house on March 30 highlighting the River Run Energy Center.

Basin Electric and NextEra Energy Resources staff hosted stations covering project overviews, technical details, environmental considerations, construction plans, and site information, and were available throughout the event to answer questions.

"The open house is part of our strong commitment to engagement, transparency, and collaboration across the region," Dan Gallagher, Basin Electric vice president of commercial operations, said. "It provided an important opportunity to walk through the full range of major project elements in a clear, accessible way, answer questions directly, and gather meaningful feedback from community members. That open dialogue is central to how Basin Electric and NextEra Energy Resources approach this work and to ensuring the project delivers long-term benefits for the community."

Developed under Basin Electric's Large Load Commercial Program, the project would serve as the foundation for the data center campus. Under the program, the customer requesting service is responsible for the infrastructure costs needed to support it, helping insulate existing cooperative members from financial risk.

In total, the project includes both the natural gas generator and the data center, which is expected to bring over $18 billion in new investment to the area. Once fully operational, the project would conservatively employ around 230 permanent, full-time workers, and is estimated to generate approximately $15 million in annual property tax revenue for Mercer County.

"This is truly a generational economic opportunity," Gallagher said. "The combination of construction spending, permanent employment, expanded property tax base, and community benefit payments together represent what could be the largest single economic development investment Mercer County has ever seen."