{"podcast":{"title":"Living in McKenzie County","slug":"living-in-mckenzie-county-7072430","podcast_index_feed_id":7072430,"rss_url":"https://feeds.libsyn.com/551497/rss","website_url":"https://sites.libsyn.com/551497","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/d/2/a/9/d2a964325a802082e55e3c100dce7605/LMC_Title_Graphic__1400_x_1400_px.png","author":"The City of Watford City, North Dakota","episode_count":45,"summary":"Welcome to \"Living in McKenzie County\", an original content series brought to you by the City of Watford City and McKenzie County Economic Development. In this series, join hosts Vawnita Best and Daniel Stenberg as we introduce you to those shaping our community through innovation, decision-making, and events. We'll explore the stories behind the people who are driving the growth in one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States during the 2010s. McKenzie County, North Dakota, has been transformed by a revolutionary energy boom, but its roots run deep in agriculture and conservation. Today, it's a place where young families, longtime residents, and businesses can thrive, embracing the opportunities that this dynamic region has to offer.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T14:21:36.677206+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/living-in-mckenzie-county-7072430"},"episode":{"title":"Let's Talk About Data Centers","slug":"let-s-talk-about-data-centers","published_at":"2026-06-16T05:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/living-in-mckenzie-county-7072430/let-s-talk-about-data-centers","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/living-in-mckenzie-county-7072430","url":"https://f1723f1f-6ae3-4dff-bd34-5c48f3860d90.libsyn.com/lets-talk-about-data-centers","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/f1723f1f-6ae3-4dff-bd34-5c48f3860d90/LMC_S2_E21.mp3?dest-id=4760392","summary":"County Commissioners Howdy Lawlar and Craig Hystad, along with farmer and rancher Nathan Brenna and host Meghan Taunton recap an educational trip to Cheyenne, Wyoming with a 16-person delegation of local officials and landowners to learn about data center development. They describe hearing from the City of Cheyenne, Cheyenne LEADS, Microsoft, Meta, Black Hills Energy, utilities, and planners. Throughout their discussion, the group describes their take away lessons on zoning and permitting, partner expectations, infrastructure costs, water and wastewater handling, and noise levels. The episode also previews the upcoming data center open house on June 25 from 5:30–8:30 PM at the McKenzie County Ag Expo to answer questions and share McKenzie County-specific information. 00:00 Introduction 02:04 Cheyenne Trip 05:45 Choosing the Right Partner 08:09 Crypto Data Centers 08:32 Cheyenne Data Centers 14:08 Why Do We Need More Data Centers? 16:23 Water Use 19:33 Job Opportunities 22:44 Cheyenne Data Center Moratorium 23:36 Noise and Power Grid Concerns 28:55 Youth Retention 31:15 Unanswered Questions 34:22 Data Center Open House 38:39 Permitting 39:52 Open House Details 42:02 Closing","meta_description":"County Commissioners Howdy Lawlar and Craig Hystad, along with farmer and rancher Nathan Brenna and host Meghan Taunton recap an educational trip to Cheye…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2673,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/living-in-mckenzie-county-7072430/episodes/let-s-talk-about-data-centers/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/living-in-mckenzie-county-7072430/let-s-talk-about-data-centers.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}