A New York-based data mining company is planning to build a new data center in Grand Island, and city officials say the project will not increase costs for local utility customers. Fortitude Mining intends to construct the facility just north of the JBS plant on land near an existing electric substation and a nearby solar farm. According to city officials, the company will pay for all construction associated with the project and will lease the land from the city for $18,000 per year, with the lease including a three percent annual increase.
Grand Island Utilities Director Ryan Schmitz said the facility will operate under an “interruptible power” agreement, meaning the city can temporarily shut off electricity to the data center during times of peak demand. Schmitz noted that this arrangement prevents the project from requiring the city to add new power generation capacity, which can sometimes be necessary with other types of large data centers.
City officials say the project could also help balance electricity use across the system, which benefits other utility customers. Schmitz added that the nearby solar farm provides an additional advantage, allowing the facility to draw power directly from solar generation for large portions of the day without heavily relying on substation transformers. The city will also retain the authority to cut power to the data center entirely if additional electricity is needed elsewhere in the system.
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