Short version
Twenty megawatts running 24/7 is roughly 175,200 MWh per year — about 16,000 average U.S. residential customers worth of annual electricity. A 100 MW expansion (as discussed in the March 25 minutes) would be about 81,000. This is an energy-equivalence comparison, not a claim that homes lose power; it shows the scale of the load.
A 20 MW continuous load is roughly 175,200 MWh per year, equivalent to about 16,000 average residential customers.
March 25 minutes record discussion of possible expansion to a 100 MW facility, with uncertainty about whether Midstate could support that level of power.
SLED's public business-development page says at least 30 MW is available now to industrial-park tenants. A 20 MW facility would consume two-thirds of that advertised availability.
March 25 minutes state any increase above 10 MW per year would require a special request submitted by a Midstate lobbyist on BoxMiner's behalf because La Pine power is generated through Bonneville.
Midstate announced a November 2025 rate adjustment tied to a 28% BPA rate increase and introduced a demand charge in January 2025.
Data centers consumed about 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023 and could reach 6.7%–12% by 2028, per LBNL findings cited by DOE.
What officials should answer
- 01 Require a public utility-impact study before any land sale.
- 02 Require written confirmation from Midstate and BPA on available capacity, required upgrades, who pays, and whether residents or small businesses could bear any cost.
- 03 Require a separate large-load or special-contract rate that prevents cross-subsidy by residential members.
- 04 Require all line extensions, transformers, substations, wildfire-hardening, and interconnection costs to be paid by the developer, not ratepayers.
- 05 Require public disclosure of the site's maximum buildout, not only the first 20 MW.