FAQ: A New Data Center in Our Community Cass County Electric Cooperative is committed to keeping members informed and addressing questions as new developments arise. A major data center project is planned within our service territory—bringing significant investment to both our community and our electric system. Applied Digital is building a data center near Harwood, North Dakota. Power for the facility will be provided by Minnkota Power Cooperative and Cass County Electric Cooperative. Applied Digital will also cover the cost of all necessary infrastructure improvements. To help members and the public better understand this development, we’ve compiled answers to frequently asked questions about the project’s purpose, operations, and community impact. What is Applied Digital? Applied Digital (Nasdaq: APLD) — Named Best Data Center in the Americas 2025 by Datacloud — is a next-generation digital infrastructure company that designs, develops, and operates high-performance data centers and colocation solutions for artificial intelligence, cloud, networking and blockchain industries. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Dallas, TX, the company blends hyperscale development expertise with proprietary waterless cooling technology and sustainable engineering practices to deliver secure, scalable compute capacity at unprecedented speed and efficiency. Learn more at AppliedDigital.com. What is an AI Factory and why is it coming to Harwood, North Dakota? An AI Factory is a specialized data center that hosts specialized Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) and other computer equipment to support artificial intelligence. These facilities drive breakthroughs across many fields, including advancing healthcare and education to improving infrastructure and public safety. They power innovations that
improve lives, boost the economy and support national security. North Dakota is an ideal location for a data center because it offers: • Affordable, reliable power infrastructure • A supportive and growing business environment • Available land with low risk of natural disasters • A cold climate that naturally reduces cooling costs for equipment • A skilled workforce focused on technology How big will this data center be? The Harwood data center will feature two purpose-built facilities totaling more than 1.8 million square feet. The new site will represent one of the region’s most influential digital infrastructure initiatives to date, with investments projected to exceed $3 billion from Applied Digital plus additional significant investment from Applied Digital’s customer(s). Will the data center stress the power grid or affect reliability? Minnkota and Cass County Electric Cooperative have planned carefully for growth in the Fargo area. The
necessary energy capacity and infrastructure are in place to integrate the data center while maintaining a strong, stable and resilient grid. Data centers help maximize the use of existing electric infrastructure that might otherwise be underused during certain times. This improves system efficiency and benefits all cooperative members. Will this data center increase retail electric bills? No. In fact, large electricity users can help keep costs more stable for everyone. Electric utilities must maintain and operate essential infrastructure – transmission lines, substations, and other equipment – whether electricity demand is high or low. These are fixed costs that are incurred from month to month. When a large consumer like a data center joins the system, they contribute significantly to those fixed costs through the rates they pay. This spreads those expenses over more users, which can help offset other rising costs that put upward pressure on rates. In other words, instead of increasing costs for members, large electricity users can actually help relieve some of that pressure.