# Beadle County, South Dakota: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Huron No data center or power plant project is on record in Beadle County, but the national build-out still reaches it through its utility bill, its labor market and the projects next door. Beadle County is home to Huron. 62 MW has retired here since 2019, including Huron (natural gas, 58 MW, 2022). 69 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly natural gas. Construction employs 357, unchanged since 2019. Unemployment was 1.9% in August 2026, against 2.7% in 2019. 62 MW of generating capacity retired since 2019 69 MW of operating power plants, mostly natural gas -1.5% total jobs since 2019, now 8,524 ## Cities and towns in Beadle County Beadle County is home to Huron. Huron14,607 residents Wolsey471 residents Clyde Township438 residents Custer Township383 residents Theresa Township319 residents Valley Township256 residents Wessington193 residents · 96% of the city Clifton Township143 residents Cavour131 residents Lake Byron Township125 residents Logan Township124 residents Fairfield Township121 residents Grant Township115 residents Hitchcock111 residents Iowa Township111 residents Barrett Township108 residents Yale107 residents Richland Township106 residents Dearborn Township101 residents Pearl Creek Township97 residents Foster Township94 residents Hartland Township94 residents Altoona Township91 residents Cavour Township91 residents And 11 smaller places. - Iroquois also extends into [Kingsbury County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/kingsbury-county). Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Huron Colony, Morningside, Pearl Creek Colony, Riverside Colony, Shamrock Colony. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Beadle County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in South Dakota | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 19,162 | 19,624 | ▲ 2.4% | 11th of 66 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 8,650 | 8,524 | ▼ 1.5% | 46th of 66 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $41,414 | $53,994 | ▲ 30.4% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 357 | 357 | ● 0.0% | 30th of 31 by growth | | Electrical contractor jobs (2019 → 2025) | 54 | 46 | ▼ 14.8% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 2.7% | 1.9% | ▼ 0.8pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 69 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 62 MW | | — | Its power plants have 69 MW of capacity, 100% of it natural gas. NorthWestern Energy - (SD) is the largest utility serving Beadle County, one of 6 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 12.56¢/kWh in 2024. Employers here counted 8,524 jobs in 2025, down 1.5% from 2019. Electrical contractors employ 46, down 14.8% since 2019 against up 38.0% statewide, at an average $79,681 a year. 19,624 people live here, up 2.4% since 2020. ## Who powers Beadle County ### Utilities with service territory in Beadle County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | NorthWestern Energy - (SD) | Investor Owned | Bundled | 51,467 | 12.56¢ | 40% | | Northern Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | Bundled | 5,757 | 11.29¢ | 18% | | Dakota Energy Coop Inc | Cooperative | Bundled | 3,224 | 15.30¢ | 18% | | Codington-Clark Elec Coop, Inc | — | — | — | — | — | | Kingsbury Electric Coop, Inc | — | — | — | — | — | | WAPA-- Western Area Power Administration | Federal | Bundled | — | — | 99% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Natural gas | 69 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Bob Glanzer Generating Station | NorthWestern Energy - (SD) | Natural gas | 69 MW | 2022 | ### Retired since 2019 | Plant | Technology | MW | Year | |---|---|---|---| | Huron | Natural gas | 58 MW | 2022 | | Mobile Unit | Petroleum | 4 MW | 2019 | ## The Beadle County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 8,524 | $53,994 | 1.00 | | Construction | 357 | $64,239 | 0.79 | | Electrical contractors | 46 | $79,681 | 0.75 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Beadle County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Beadle County. South Dakota has 4 local measures on record statewide. ## Beadle County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Beadle County, Hand County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Beadle County | 19,624 | ▼ 1.5% | 69 MW | — | — | — | | Clark County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/clark-county) | 4,031 | ▲ 14.7% | 222 MW | — | — | — | | Hand County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/hand-county) | 3,121 | ▲ 4.7% | 226 MW | — | — | — | | Jerauld County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/jerauld-county) | 1,654 | ▲ 5.1% | 213 MW | — | — | — | | Kingsbury County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/kingsbury-county) | 5,284 | ▲ 3.3% | 24 MW | — | — | — | | Miner County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/miner-county) | 2,281 | ▲ 5.7% | — | — | — | — | | Sanborn County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/sanborn-county) | 2,388 | ▲ 13.2% | — | — | — | — | | Spink County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/spink-county) | 6,155 | ▲ 0.7% | 8 MW | — | — | — | ## More of South Dakota [All South Dakota countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota)[Spink County6,155 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/spink-county)[Kingsbury County5,284 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/kingsbury-county)[Clark County4,031 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/clark-county)[Hand County3,121 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/hand-county)[Sanborn County2,388 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/sanborn-county) ## Beadle County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Beadle County, South Dakota? 6 utilities have service territory in Beadle County in the EIA-861 2024 report: NorthWestern Energy - (SD), Northern Electric Coop, Inc, Dakota Energy Coop Inc, Codington-Clark Elec Coop, Inc. The largest, NorthWestern Energy - (SD), charged residential customers 12.56¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What county is Huron, SD in? Huron is in Beadle County, South Dakota. About 14,607 people live there (2025 Census estimate). ### What power plants are in Beadle County? 1 operating plant with 69 MW of capacity. The largest is Bob Glanzer Generating Station (69 MW, natural gas). ### Are there data centers in Beadle County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Beadle County. ### Is Beadle County adding jobs? Employers counted 8,524 jobs in 2025 against 8,650 in 2019 (-1.5%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 357 to 357. ### Does Beadle County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Beadle County. South Dakota has 4 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/beadle-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).