Imposes a moratorium through June 30, 2027, on any new construction or expansion of a hyperscale data center in South Dakota, including expansion of a facility that would become hyperscale if expanded. The moratorium is in effect through June 30, 2027.

Under the adopted amendment, the moratorium covers a centralized data repository meeting at least two of these criteria: more than 250,000 square feet, peak electrical demand of at least 50 megawatts, an artificial-intelligence-model-training or large-scale-machine-learning purpose, or a co-location configuration with undisclosed end users. which has two or more of the following.

Creates an exception only for a hyperscale data center that obtained all final government approvals and required permits and executed all utility interconnection agreements before July 1, 2026. The moratorium does not apply.

The moratorium does not apply to a hyperscale data center that obtained all final government approvals and required permits and executed all utility interconnection agreements before July 1, 2026.

The amendment narrows which facilities qualify as hyperscale data centers subject to the moratorium: a facility must meet at least two of four criteria—more than 250,000 square feet, peak electrical demand of at least 50 megawatts, an artificial-intelligence or large-scale machine-learning purpose, or a colocation configuration with undisclosed end users. Facilities meeting only one criterion would not fall within the amended hyperscale definition.

A moratorium prohibits new construction or expansion of any large data center, including expansion of a smaller data center that would make it large. The moratorium lasts through June 30, 2027.

A large data center is defined as a facility with peak electricity demand of 20 megawatts or more, so the measure's large-data-center requirements apply at that threshold.

Electric utilities must set rates or tariffs so a data center pays the full cost of its electric service, including infrastructure upgrades required by the data center, without shifting those costs to other retail customers.

Rates or tariffs must protect other retail customers from stranded costs if a data center stops operating early, and the data center must bear all costs of decommissioning.

The operator of a large data center must submit a proposal to meet some or all of its electricity demand through private electricity suppliers or self-generation to reduce stranded-asset risks to other retail customers.

If a large data center uses a private electricity supplier or self-generation along with utility service, the data center must pay the cost of interconnecting that supply or generation.

The operator of a large data center must file an annual report with the serving electric utility and, when applicable, the Public Utilities Commission. The report must include extensive information about the facility, ownership, location, electricity demand, infrastructure, contracts, energy measures, renewable-energy commitments, decommissioning resources, cryptocurrency mining, and required zoning or other permits.

A large data center must comply with applicable decommissioning requirements, submit a decommissioning plan within its first year of operation, and post a security bond or other financial instrument securing decommissioning costs.

A large data center may meet some or all of its electricity demand through private electricity-supplier agreements or self-generation. If it uses those sources alongside utility service, the electric utility must interconnect them, although the data center must pay the interconnection cost.

Data centers covered by the amended measure are centralized facilities with a total design load greater than 100 megawatts.

A data center operator must pay all fair, just, and reasonable electricity-related costs attributed to the data center. The provider must use separate electric-service terms and conditions, including reimbursement for costs incurred if the data center leaves the system or materially reduces its load.

Electric utilities may not shift a data center’s infrastructure, service-demand, consumption, distribution, generation, or transmission costs to residential customers through increased fees, rates, surcharges, or allocations.

Counties, municipalities, and other political subdivisions retain authority to adopt ordinances or resolutions limiting, prohibiting, or otherwise regulating the construction, development, or operation of data centers.

Before beginning operations, a data center operator must notify each applicable local water provider of projected water consumption and obtain written determinations about whether that consumption is compatible with local water supplies. The operator must submit the notices and determinations to the Board of Water Management.

A data center may not consume more local water than limits established by the Board of Water Management after residential and essential public-service needs are allocated. The board must seek to ensure water availability and prevent disproportionate data-center water use.

A data center operator authorized to operate in South Dakota must submit semiannual water-use reports to the Board of Water Management, including average usage data and a certification of compliance. The board must make the usage data public.

A data center may operate after notifying each applicable local water provider of its projected water consumption and obtaining written determinations that the use is compatible with local water supplies. If all applicable providers issue compatible determinations, the Board of Water Management must issue a written statement confirming that the data center satisfied this requirement. The facility remains subject to board-established water limits after residential and essential public services are allocated.

As amended, the measure applies to a data center only if it has an anticipated peak electrical demand of 10 megawatts or greater, narrowing which facilities are subject to the restrictions. The amended definition adds the 10-megawatt threshold.

Beginning July 1, 2026, a facility housing a data center may not be established within one mile of any residence or residential area. Counties, municipalities, and townships may impose more restrictive siting requirements. The amended siting restriction establishes the one-mile buffer.

A data center may not produce a continuous noise level exceeding 45 decibels at the nearest property line of a residential area, measured under federal or local environmental standards. The measure sets a 45-decibel operating limit.

Violating the siting or noise requirements constitutes a nuisance. The state's attorney or any affected citizen may sue the data-center operator and the building or land owner to obtain an injunction against the nuisance. The measure authorizes injunction actions against operators and owners.

The adopted amendment limits the bill’s definition of “data center” to facilities with an anticipated peak electrical demand of 10 megawatts or greater, so facilities below that threshold would not be subject to the bill’s one-mile siting restriction or its data-center noise limit.

A data center that qualifies as a large-use customer must notify and cooperate with each local water provider regarding projected water consumption. The large-use customer threshold is for facilities established after July 1, 2026; the introduced bill used a 2-megawatt contracted-demand threshold, while committee amendment 128B changes it to an anticipated peak electrical demand of 10 megawatts or greater. The amendment changes the large-use customer threshold.

A data center must use closed-loop cooling technology and limit net water withdrawals to a daily amount established by the Water Management Board for each water source. The bill requires closed-loop cooling technology.

A data center may not consume more water than limits established by the Water Management Board after residential and essential public-service allocations are satisfied. The bill limits consumption after residential and essential public-service allocations.

During a declared or board-determined water shortage, a data center must reduce water use until residential and essential public-service allocations are met. The bill requires water-use reductions during shortages.

A data center must submit quarterly water-use reports to the Water Management Board, including average usage and a compliance certification; the usage data must be made public. The bill requires quarterly public water-use reporting.

Each public utility must create a separate large-use-customer service classification with its own tariff and schedules. The tariff must allocate incremental costs among large-use customers and may not impose on other customers a directly attributable rate increase or surcharge. The bill requires a separate tariff and bars directly attributable surcharges on other customers.

Large-use-customer tariffs and related schedules require Public Utilities Commission approval and public inspection. The commission may require consumption reports, cost-impact review, expert expenses, and reimbursement of those review costs by the large-use customer. The bill makes tariffs subject to commission approval and allows cost recovery.

A negotiated electric-service contract for a large-use customer must specify its duration and estimated start date, require a minimum payment or percentage based on projected usage, and prohibit shifting incremental costs or subsidization to other customers. The bill imposes conditions on negotiated electric-service contracts.

A large-use customer with a negotiated rate must report total electric usage and projected usage for the following 12 months at least annually. Reports are generally available for public inspection, subject to confidentiality for proprietary information, trade secrets, and other sensitive data. The bill requires annual usage reporting.

A negotiated rate must be approved by the applicable authority and determined to be in the public interest. For a public utility, the commission may require reimbursement of contract and report review costs; for a nonpublic electric utility, the applicable approval authority may require payment of review costs. Committee amendment 128B adds approval-authority review and cost provisions.

No utility may increase fees, rates, or surcharges on customers that are not large-use customers to finance, offset, or subsidize a large-use customer's infrastructure, service demands, or consumption, or allocate that customer's distribution, generation, or transmission infrastructure costs to them. Committee amendment 128B adds the prohibition on cost shifting.

If a transmission operator declares an energy shortage or forecasts that peak demand will exceed supply, each large-use customer in the affected service area must curtail electricity use until residential and essential public-service demand is met. Committee amendment 128B changes the curtailment trigger to a transmission-operator shortage or forecast.

A large-use customer may negotiate a written electric-service contract with an electric utility. The contract can specify its duration and estimated service start date and require the customer to pay a minimum amount or percentage based on projected usage, providing greater cost and service certainty. The contract may not shift incremental costs to other customers or result in customer subsidization, and it requires at least annual reporting of actual and projected electricity use. The negotiated-rate contract provisions

A contracted rate is not treated as violating the utility-service restrictions if the Public Utilities Commission approves the contract and determines that it is in the public interest after considering the factors in section 49-34A-56. The public-interest approval provision

For a new large-use customer at a new location outside a municipality, the commission may determine that the customer does not have to take electric service from the utility assigned to that service area. The commission must provide notice and a hearing and consider factors including the customer's service requirements, available power supply, facility proximity, system-development economics, and the customer's preference. The assigned-service-area exception

Public utilities must create a separate large-use-customer service classification with its own tariff and schedules. This gives qualifying facilities a distinct rate structure, although the tariff remains subject to commission approval and must allocate incremental costs among large-use customers. The separate large-use-customer tariff requirement

SB 232 imposes a one-year moratorium on constructing or expanding hyperscale data centers. The moratorium does not apply to a facility that obtained all final governmental approvals and required permits and executed all utility interconnection agreements before July 1, 2026. (Source: one-year moratorium on construction or expansion)

For purposes of the SB 232 moratorium, the definition of a hyperscale data center is narrowed to facilities meeting at least two listed criteria, including a size exceeding 250,000 square feet, an artificial-intelligence-model-training or large-scale-machine-learning purpose, or a co-location configuration with undisclosed end users. (Source: two or more qualifying criteria)

For data centers with a total design load greater than 100 megawatts, SB 234 and SB 235 require the operator to pay all fair, just, and reasonable electricity-related costs attributed to the facility, including costs incurred to serve it if it later departs the system or materially reduces its load. (Source: total design load greater than one hundred megawatts)

The same utility provisions require electricity providers to establish and maintain separate service terms and conditions for covered data centers, creating a separate utility-service framework before operation. (Source: separate terms and conditions for electric service)

SB 234 and SB 235 preserve local authority to adopt ordinances or resolutions that limit, prohibit, or otherwise regulate the construction, development, or operation of data centers. (Source: local authority to limit, prohibit, or regulate data centers)

Before beginning operation, a covered data center must notify each local water provider of its projected water consumption and obtain written determinations from the applicable providers that the projected use is compatible with local water supplies. The operator must submit the notices and determinations to the Board of Water Management. (Source: notice of projected water consumption and written determinations)

Even after receiving compatible water-supply determinations, a data center may not consume more local water than limits established by the Board of Water Management after residential and essential public-service allocations. The board must seek to ensure water availability and prevent disproportionate data-center use. (Source: water-use limits after residential and essential-service allocations)

Data-center operators authorized to operate under the new water provisions must submit semiannual water-use reports, including average usage data and a compliance certification; the Board of Water Management must make the usage data public. (Source: semiannual water-use reports and public disclosure)

SB 232's moratorium does not apply to a hyperscale data center that obtained all final government approvals and required permits and executed all utility interconnection agreements before July 1, 2026. The moratorium does not apply to qualifying projects

Data centers are expressly included as eligible projects under the reinvestment payment program. For the enhanced program, a new or expanded facility begun on or after April 1, 2026, must exceed the minimum project-cost threshold set by the Board of Economic Development; cryptocurrency-related costs are excluded. A project includes data centers

For a qualifying large project, the Board of Economic Development may approve a combined reinvestment payment equal to or less than the South Dakota sales and use tax due on the initial facility cost and later equipment upgrades at the same facility, for up to 30 years after the construction date. Board approval requires a two-thirds majority. The board may approve a combined reinvestment payment

A qualifying reinvestment payment permit also functions as a direct payment permit, and the Department of Revenue may relieve the permit holder from accruing and paying sales and use taxes to the extent covered by the reinvestment payment. A reinvestment payment permit also operates as a direct payment permit

The initial project-cost eligibility period for a qualifying facility is extended from three years to four years, and equipment upgrades receive a separate eligibility period running from project completion until the reinvestment payment permit expires. The three-year eligibility period is extended to four years

A reinvestment payment permit may extend to a data-center lessee on the same terms and may be assigned or transferred, provided the lessee, assignee, or transferee also holds a direct payment permit. A reinvestment payment permit extends to a person's lessee

The Board of Economic Development must decide whether to approve or disapprove a completed qualifying application within 90 days of receiving it, unless the applicant consents in writing to a later deadline. The Board of Economic Development shall review a completed application