The Issue
Data Center planned for Hay River Township near ethanol plant
Data Center company NODIAC told the Dunn County planning committee on July 16 that they are proposing a data center building near the existing ethanol plant in Hay River Township.
NODIAC Data Center proposed for Hay River
NODIAC is an AI infrastructure development company that focuses on deploying scalable, repeatable 1-20MW modular data center units.
Data centers are often presented as economic wins, but communities across the country have learned the hard way that the promises rarely match the reality. These facilities create few permanent local jobs, generate significant infrastructure costs that fall on taxpayers, and once built, operate indefinitely — long after the approval process is forgotten. No matter the size of the facility, the burden lands on the people who live nearby, not the corporation that built it.
Impacts
Fact Checking Nodiac
—Inexperienced Company
Nodiac is a new privately held company formed in 2025 that does not have any working modular data center sites. This was conveniently omitted in Nodiac's presentations both in Dunn County and Hay River. Our organization brought this to light and the Nodiac Representative confirmed this on August 10th, 2026 in the publicly held Hay River Township Board meeting. Would you risk your community's well being for a company that has no track record?
—Water
Data centers require massive amounts of water for cooling systems. A facility of this size could draw millions of gallons from local water sources, putting strain on Hay River Township's water supply and potentially affecting neighboring farms and wells.
—Power
Data centers are among the most energy-intensive facilities in existence. This proposal would place enormous demand on our local power grid, potentially causing outages, driving up electricity costs for residents and farmers, and requiring costly infrastructure upgrades.
—Noise
The proposed modular data center would run nearly 24/7/365 days per year. The noise generated by the site would be constant and around 70 decibels at the site and 40-50 decibels at the nearest residence. However, with Nodiac not actually having any working sites this number could in practice be different than what is being stated.
—Property Values
Industrial facilities of this scale have been shown to negatively impact surrounding property values. Homeowners and farmers near the proposed site could see the value of their land and homes decline.
—Environment
The environmental footprint of a data center includes heat discharge, potential water contamination, increased carbon emissions, and disruption to local wildlife and farmland. Our rural ecosystem is not equipped to absorb this kind of industrial impact.
—Community First or Last?
Nodiac representatives have touted a "community first" slogan in their presentations to show how they are different from other companies. The reality is that our Hay River Community (which is the one directly impacted by the proposed data center) was met by the Nodiac representative after they had already leased the land, presented to Dunn County to the PRD committee and (according to Hay River Board members) attempted to meet with a Hay River Board member in private, outside of a public meeting. Does this sound like a community friendly business?
—Statements and Claims Are Not Legally Binding
There were a lot of words used by Nodiac in their presentations. However, the statements are deliberately vague. They spoke about "community benefits" such as money to local projects, but the exact dollar amount and type of projects were not specified. The reality is that everything that has been said in their presentations is not legally binding. If you have problems with the facility down the road on topics that were misrepresented in their presentations you would likely have no legal recourse due to these statements not being signed and under any type of contract.