KAALl Channel 6 News reports…

Residents in Pine Island continue voicing concerns about the proposed Project Skyway data center, with low-frequency noise emerging as one of the biggest issues.

Experts say the sound produced by large data centers has been linked to short-term effects such as sleep disruption, stress and difficulty concentrating. While the long-term health impacts remain unknown, researchers say those short-term effects are well documented.

“It’s not about how loud it is, but how impossible it is to escape,” Dr. Heidi Ahonen, Founder of the Resonance Research Institute said.

In a statement, Google said it is working to comply with Minnesota law and take steps to prevent noise from becoming an issue. However, experts note that if problems arise, Google would ultimately be responsible for addressing them.

The response has left the community divided. Some residents say they are not convinced the company will follow through if issues develop.

I’m going to keep this at the highest level, but the article doesn’t; check out MinnPost to get the details…

1. They use enormous amounts of water

2. Researchers know little about water pollution

3. Rezoning battles are becoming more common

4. Most projects are planned for rural areas

5. AI is expanding faster than regulations

I was in the car at the right time today to learn all about community response to data centers on 1A (locally on MPR). They point out that there are 3,000 data centers in the US and spoke with varied and passionate people about their experience. Turns out near Washington DC (hometown to 1A) is a hotbed of data centers. They don’t talk about what’s happening in Minnesota but sometimes it’s easier to take in the information when I’m not invested in the characters.

This is the first of a two-part series. (Listen online.) You can also listen to part two next Tuesday (Aug 4 2026) from 11am to noon on MPR. Below is the description from 1A…

Data centers are everywhere in the news right now and for good reason. Many projects are planned or under construction across the country. They’re backed by hundreds of billions of dollars in investment from the biggest tech companies in the world. They power not just artificial intelligence, but pretty much everything that happens online – your streaming, your email, your cloud storage.

But they’re not without their drawbacks. They consume a lot of electricity and water. They’re showing up in communities whose residents don’t always feel they had a say in green lighting their construction.

Opposition across the country is growing. Billions of dollars worth of projects were blocked or postponed in just the first three months of 2026 alone.

What are data centers costing communities and what are they delivering? And when people push back, is it about the facilities? Or what these facilities represent?

I wrote about the Whitehouse Ratepayer Protestor Pledge earlier today. Red Lake Nation News reports…

President Donald Trump announced a non-binding pledge by U.S. power producers and ‌data centers on Thursday to fund or build energy infrastructure that would meet massive AI-related power needs while shielding consumers from high electricity costs.

Consumer advocacy groups and other administration critics, however, dismissed the pledge as an empty promise to consumers as Trump tries to balance his support for power-guzzling data centers against public anger over rising utility bills.

MinnPost reports…

This summer, across Minnesota and the country, concern over data centers has grown into a full-blown movement, capturing the press, focusing alarm at emerging AI technology and becoming a litmus test for political candidates.

But while opponents are channeling much of their energy into turning the court of public opinion against these projects, Pine Island’s case shows that rulings coming out of actual courtrooms can alter the trajectory of developments.

Courts have long been arbiters for major issues in the United States, noted Sam Temple of Faribault. As a candidate for Rice County Board this year, he welcomed a recent ruling slowing down a data center development in the city.

People place hope in the judiciary when they lose it in elected officials, he said. “(The court is) not the ideal tool, but it certainly is a tool, and it’s a tool that is a result of local organizing.”

More about the lawsuits…

Legal arguments against data center projects vary. Lawsuits allege that cities allowed lax environmental reviews, withheld information from public records requests, and that leaders discussed secret plans in defiance of open meeting laws.

The article details specifics in a number of communities in Minnesota and points out that the data center issue might be in the courts now but they started with elected officials and may swing back to that…

Courts weren’t the first place Minnesotans in these communities turned to in their quest to stop data centers.

Before courtrooms, they went to city hall. Elected officials were more OK with data centers than they were.

They went to the Capitol. Every bill to rein in data centers last session failed.

They’re turning data centers into an election issue this fall, although any electoral shifts will take months to be reflected in policies.

KVRR (Out of Fargo/Moorhead) reports…

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the addition of Republican governors, legislators, utility services and tech companies into his voluntary pledge aimed at keeping data center construction and operation costs off the shoulders of American consumers.

The Ratepayer Protection Pledge, first signed by the president in March, requires companies that build and use data centers to pay for any new infrastructure upgrades and generation resources that serve them.

Tech giants Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon all signed onto the initial pledge. Now, the measure is expanding to include nearly 200 more stakeholders, including multiple governors.

The Minnesota Star Tribune features an article from two reports in Duluth (In greater Minnesota, the data center boom is reshaping local politics)…

Across greater Minnesota, the debate over data centers has energized citizens on the left and right both, many with little to no political experience. The fight to stop these often massive digital warehouses companies want for booming cloud computing and artificial intelligence demand has begun to reshape local politics.

From their outsized use of resources like water and energy to concerns and distrust over the growing prevalence of Artificial Intelligence, data centers have been a flashpoint for opposition and debate across Minnesota and the country. However, supporters say they could provide a potential economic boon to struggling communities.

In Pine Island, the mayor recently resigned in the middle of a local controversy over a data center proposal, and the city council adopted new public comment rules for its meetings after police were called during one raucous debate and the mayor resigned. At the State Capitol, grassroots groups from different corners of the state have banded together, and opponents have overflowed typically low-attendance city council meetings to push back against new centers. Political newcomers activated by the issue have also filed for office.

Nearly a dozen city councils and county boards in greater Minnesota have voted on data center moratoriums.

They spend much of the article explaining how and why data centers will be a hot topic at the polls this year…

It may surprise some how much the political energy generated by data centers will sway elections this fall, said Sarah Mooradian, government relations and policy director at Cure, a rural environmental nonprofit.

“It’ll be an election issue, it seems more obvious than ever to me,” she said. “People are … engaged in a way I have not seen before.”

KIOW 107.3fm reports…

Supervisors in Wright County are sharing their views of data centers after residents who oppose and support data center development in Wright County crowded into a board meeting this week. Supervisor Dean Kluss says he’s studied the issue and is opposed to a moratorium on data center expansion into Wright County.

Wright County Supervisor Betty Ellis is also focused on the potential tax revenue for the county.

Wright County Supervisor Ashley Bosch focused on the full-time jobs associated with data centers.

Wright County Planning and Zoning Commissioner Jeremy Abbas told the supervisors they’d have to consider whether to rezone prime farmland for a data center and might have to consider whether a wind turbine would be nearby to provide electricity.

Wright County Economic Development Director Aaron Buckley says data centers have been around for 50 years and the county has the opportunity to embrace updated versions of the technology

Visit the KIOW website to hear more of the story.

Earlier I wrote about the upcoming City County meeting in Harmony (Aug 5) to discuss data centers. Post Bulletin offers some perspective on the meeting…

For the last several months, Harmony city officials have worked on a draft ordinance that would define the kind of data center to be built in Harmony. A proposed ordinance is set to be rolled out at a public meeting on Aug. 5, 2026, in the city hall chambers and could set the stage for receiving bids from tech companies.

Harmony Mayor Steve Donney, a data center supporter, emphasizes that the data center exists as a proposal only.

If the city does go forward, it would be a “small” data center compared to the larger projects underway in Pine Island and Cannon Falls. It would be built on 60 acres on the northwest edge of Harmony near the intersection of U.S. Highway 52 and County Road 22. Its growth and operations would be restricted by the proposed ordinance, he said.

He said many opponents have in their minds that Harmony is looking to build a massive, hyper-scale data center and that is not the case. …

Opponents aren’t placated at the moment. Robbie Brokken, a Harmony resident, said she worries that a center will cause utility rates to rise, contaminate the land and water and make horrible noise. Property values, she fears, will plummet. The benefits touted by data center advocates — new jobs, a boost to city finances — won’t be enough if it comes at such cost.

KSTP.com reports…

A lawsuit has paused a planned data center in Pine Island.

Construction was supposed to start this month on Project Skyway near Highway 52. Earlier this year, the Pine Island City Council approved a conditional use permit to develop at least 100 acres on nearly 500 acres of land.

“This is my home,” Janet Hanke said.

But Hanke said she has questions about the city’s future and about the proposed project in the city of about 4,000 people.

The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) sued Pine Island and the developer Ryan Companies. The nonprofit claims the city did not conduct an adequate environmental impact study before approval.

“That’s where the public can see how is this going to affect my resources, the water that I depend on, the air that I breathe, my quality of life,” Kathryn Hoffman said, CEO of The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. “The first concern is really about the secrecy.”

For now, MCEA is waiting for a court ruling. Until then, construction cannot start.