Planned

Leola Data Center (McPherson County)

Leola Data Center, LLC plans Leola Data Center (McPherson County), a data center in Leola, SD. The project is sized at 50 MW. Leola Data Center LLC proposes a 50 MW data center on ~9 acres of a 20-acre parcel next to Montana-Dakota Utilities' Leola substation. After McPherson County enacted a moratorium and 1-mile setback (Dec 2024), the SD PUC on Sept 9, 2026 unanimously authorized MDU to serve the site (reversing a 2024 denial); the county has deferred action on the conditional use permit, which is still required. Developer pledges ~$159K/yr property taxes plus EMS and school contributions. (Source dated 2026-09-09.).

50 MWPlanned capacity

Google Street View

Project status

Announced
Permitting
Under constructionNot yet
OperationalNot yet

Recorded changes

Nothing recorded yet. Follow this project to hear when something changes.

Community sentiment

Should this project be built?

Do you live nearby?

What’s next

Election Day is in 10 days.

Tuesday, November 3
Election Day
Monday, November 9SD
South Dakota for Data Center Transparency: Mark your calendars.... All committee meetings are open to the public, and public input will be taken at each meeting. The meetings will be

Latest news

Nothing written about this data center yet.

Stories about it, and about McPherson County, SD, land here.

See all news

Records and documentation

South Dakota state legislation

HB3397 - Data center service classification requirementLegislationdatacenterbans.comDefines terms and requires the Corporation Commission to classify data center service.Download
HB1038 - PUC cost assessment authority over data centersLegislationdatacenterbans.comAllows the Public Utilities Commission to assess actual costs to data centers.Download
SB939 - AI/Data Center Regulatory Sandbox ProgramLegislationdatacenterbans.comCreates an Office of Transformation and Opportunity regulatory sandbox program with permits for high-impact data centers.Download
SF3968 - Data centers provisions modificationLegislationdatacenterbans.comModifies existing statutory provisions on data centers.Download
SB0318 - Data Center Non Disclosure AmendmentsLegislationdatacenterbans.comAmends rules on nondisclosure agreements related to data centers.Download
S0724 - Commercial Data Center Water Usage ReportLegislationdatacenterbans.comRequires water usage reporting from commercial data centers.Download
SB232 - Impose a one-year moratorium on the construction or expansion of hyperscale data centers.Moratoriumlegiscan.comPassed Feb 18, 2026Description comingDownload
HB1301 - Limit costs and risks associated with electricity use by data centers and impose a moratorium.Moratoriumlegiscan.comPassed Feb 18, 2026Description comingDownload

Site details

Operator: Leola Data Center, LLC
County: McPherson County, SD
Capacity: 50 MW
Address: Leola, SD
Stage: Planned

Size: not on file

Map

Photos

Google Street View
Google Street View
Google Street View
Google Street View
Google Street View
Google Street View
An $8 billion Treasury break helped Meta’s tax rate hit 2%. Senators want data center tax answersFortune
The states with the fewest and most data centers, rankedBusiness Insider
Finns Are Seething After Google Illegally Toppled 250,000 Trees for a Data CenterMother Jones
Google offer to pay others to help data center powerArkansas Online
This bill would make data centers pay their own way for powerSalt Lake City Deseret News