The Sioux Falls City Council debates a rezoning for a potential data center on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. Public opinion is still divided about the project. (Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live)
A monthslong effort to develop new regulations for data centers in Sioux Falls might not stop a hyperscale facility already planned on the city’s eastern edge.
That’s among the unanswered questions the Sioux Falls City Council will seek to address as it launches an initiative to ease public concerns about the growing prevalence of large server farms in South Dakota and across the country.
“How do regulations that we bring forward impact that potential project?” Council Chairman Rich Merkouris said during a morning news conference in downtown Sioux Falls, referring to the Gemini data center planned on the city’s east side.
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