The River Run Energy Center Project is a proposed combined-cycle natural gas power generation facility planned in western North Dakota. NextEra Energy Resources and Basin Electric Power Cooperative signed a memorandum of understanding on December 8, 2025, to jointly advance development of the project, which is designed to have a capacity of approximately 1,450 megawatts. The facility is intended to support large-scale electricity demand associated with planned data center developments in the region.

The project is planned to be located within Basin Electric’s North Dakota service territory and is being developed under the cooperative’s Large Load Commercial Program. Under this framework, electricity supply for energy-intensive customers is structured so that participating customers fund generation capacity aligned with their demand. According to the partners, this approach is intended to accommodate new load growth without affecting electricity rates for existing cooperative members.

Other than the River Run Energy Center, Basin is also working on the Bison Generation Station, North Dakota’s largest power plant. The plant is a new $4 billion natural gas-fired power plant in Williams County, North Dakota. The scope of the project represents one of the largest investments ever undertaken by Basin Electric. Furthermore, it advances Basin’s ambition to provide reliable, dispatchable power to meet growing traditional-load demands.

North Dakota is home to the Bakken Formation, one of the largest oil and natural gas-producing regions in the U.S. The Bakken is part of the Williston Basin. In a statement, Basin noted the 1.5GW power station will be constructed near the existing Wheelock substation along U.S. Highway 2 in Williams. Construction is set to begin soon, with commercial operation expected across 2029 and 2030. Moreover, state regulators already approved the project in August of last year.

Early-Stage but Strategic Milestone

While still in its formative stages, the River Run project cleared a key early hurdle. In October 2025, NextEra Energy Resources and Basin Electric jointly submitted the plant to the Southwest Power Pool’s Expedited Resource Adequacy Study. The regional grid operator’s technical review that evaluates interconnection feasibility and transmission impacts. Final siting, permitting, cost disclosure, and construction timelines will follow study outcomes and subsequent regulatory processes.

The Dec. 8 announcement formalizes the collaboration between one of the nation’s largest renewable and gas-generation developers and one of the largest generation and transmission cooperatives in the Midwest. For Basin Electric—a major power supplier across nine states—the partnership signals continued expansion into large-load energy service at a time when new industrial and digital-infrastructure customers are driving record electricity demand.

Economic and Community Impact

Both companies stressed statewide and local potential benefits. The project is forecasted to support significant job creation, considerable tax revenue. And will also attract additional technology investment to the state, according to the announcement. NextEra Energy Resources said energy-backed technology expansion could bring “thousands of jobs and billions in economic impact” as North Dakota positions itself as an emerging destination for data-center development.

Basin Electric emphasized that its Large Load Commercial Program protects current rural electric cooperative members from rate pressure by ensuring large customers pay their own way. For communities in western North Dakota-already a hub of energy production-the project offers an opportunity to diversify economic activity beyond oil and gas.

River Run Energy Center: A regional pattern of large-power buildout

The River Run Energy Center is not occurring in isolation. Basin Electric is already advancing another major gas-generation project: the 1,490-MW Bison Generation Station. Approved by North Dakota regulators in 2025 and estimated in public filings to approach $4 billion in total investment. That project is slated for operation in 2030. Together, Bison and River Run illustrate the size of new dispatchable power North Dakota is preparing to deploy as data-center interest accelerates across the Upper Midwest.

The 1.45 GW profile of the River Run plant places it amongst the most extensive single natural-gas units proposed in the U.S. this decade. And the only major new facility explicitly tied to a proposed multi-gigawatt data-center hub.

The River Run Energy Center joins a fast-growing list of new combined-cycle projects driven by surging electricity demand from data centers and AI, including the 1,350-MW CPV Basin Ranch Energy Center now under construction in West Texas and Entergy Louisiana’s combined-cycle plant that recently broke ground in Richland Parish.

Energy centers like the River Run Energy Center illustrate a growing trend in the U.S., where large-scale power projects are developed to support high-demand facilities such as data centers. At the end of 2025, a sweeping $4 billion data center plan surfaced in rural southwestern Minnesota, which, if approved, would be powered by a combination of renewable energy sources — including wind and solar — along with battery storage, highlighting how energy infrastructure is increasingly designed to meet the needs of next-generation technology operations. These projects demonstrate the integration of advanced energy development and computing facilities across the country.

What Happens Next

NextEra and Basin Electric will base the final investment decision on the Southwest Power Pool study, permitting, financing, and confirmed long-term data-center demand. No public construction timeline or cost estimate exists yet. The partnership’s structure and Basin Electric’s prior large projects signal that River Run Energy Center will anchor North Dakota’s emerging digital-economy infrastructure.

If built, the plant would redefine the state’s energy landscape. Potentially becoming one of its largest power sources and enabling one of the most ambitious data-center development corridors in the region.

River Run Energy Center: Project Factsheet

Project Type: Combined-cycle natural gas power plant

Capacity: 1,450 MW

Location: Western North Dakota

Status: Early development (MOU signed Dec 8, 2025)

Partners

NextEra Energy Resources

Basin Electric Power Cooperative

Purpose

Power source for proposed multi-gigawatt data-center campus. Supports cloud, AI, and hyperscale workloads.

Structure

Built under Basin Electric’s Large Load Commercial Program. Data-center customers pay for their own power. Existing cooperative members protected from rate increases.

Key Details

Submitted to Southwest Power Pool for grid study (Oct 2025)

Among largest natural gas plants proposed in U.S. this decade

Only major facility explicitly tied to multi-GW data-center hub

Economic Impact

Thousands of jobs expected

Billions in economic investment

Substantial tax revenue

Diversifies economy beyond oil and gas

Next Steps

Pending: grid study results, environmental permits, financing, final siting, construction timeline.

Final investment decision depends on study outcomes and regulatory approvals.

Regional Context

Basin Electric also developing 1,490-MW Bison Generation Station ($4B, operational 2030). North Dakota emerging as data-center hub.