North Dakota committee hears wide debate on requiring large energy users to seek CPCN; no vote taken

Representative Anna Novak introduced House Bill 1579, which would require owners of large electricity loads to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the North Dakota Public Service Commission before placing the load into service.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Anna Novak, said the measure is intended to protect reliability and keep electricity rates from rising for North Dakotans as ‘‘data centers . . . need anywhere from 1 to 300 megawatts of electricity,’’ and because ‘‘they absolutely cannot have a blackout situation.’’

Nut graf: The committee heard lengthy, often technical, testimony from a wide set of stakeholders — the Public Service Commission (PSC), data center developers, investor‑owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives and economic development groups — reflecting competing priorities: grid reliability and consumer protection versus speed and certainty for economic development.

Randy Christmann, a Public Service Commissioner speaking on his own behalf, framed the bill as a transparency and reliability tool…