Full details on upcoming study on data centers in Carlton County

Posted on by
Reply

I wrote about the moratorium on data centers in Carlton County last week when it happened. This week, the Moose Lake Star Gazette has published all of the details on the moratorium and planned study. I won’t share them all; you can find them in full in the original article…

Below is Interim Ordinance #42 – Carlton County Data Center Interim Use Study adopted by the Carlton County Board of Commissioners 

August 24, 2026.

Article I. General Provisions and Definitions

Section 1.1 Purpose

This Ordinance places a one-year pause on the creation or expansion of data centers in Carlton County, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes § 394.34. The purpose of this pause is to protect the planning process as the County studies data centers and their impacts and its official controls and the need for possible amendments to its official controls to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of citizens.  Additionally, this ordinance will allow time for the completion of the County’s Comprehensive Land Use Planning process that began in 2025. 

 

Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce announces support for the proposed Google data center in Hermantown ( St. Louis County)

Posted on by
Reply

FOX21 Duluth reports…

The Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce has announced its support for the proposed Google data center in Hermantown.

In a press release Wednesday, the Chamber says they have formally adopted a resolution supporting the proposed Google Data Center Project in Hermantown.

They cite the project’s potential to strengthen the region’s economic base, advance technology infrastructure, and support future growth as reasons for the support.

“We believe the proposed Hermantown Data Center represents a significant investment not only in technology and economic development, but in the infrastructure and community assets that will support future growth. As a regional business organization, we have a responsibility to advocate for opportunities that strengthen our economy and create the conditions for businesses and communities to thrive,” said Pat deGrood, chair of the Board of Directors at the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and vice president of commercial services, The Jamar Company.

EVENT Sep 14-16: Agenda – Rooted & Rising: Rural Forum in Owatonna

Posted on by
Reply

Here’s the brief description of the upcoming Rooted & Rising conference from the website…

Where Rural Leaders Unite to Spark Ideas, Strengthen Partnerships and Power Lasting Community Impact.

The logistics:

September 14, 2026 – September 16, 2026
5:00 PM-1:00 PM CST

Steele County Four Seasons Centre
1525 S Elm Ave
Owatonna, MN 55060

There are several sessions that I thought might interest some readers, and at least one that’s focused on broadband:

  • Infrastructure Track: Broadband, Energy, and the Infrastructure to Grow (Panel)

Marshall Independent looks a local views on federal funding for local schools (E-Rate)

Posted on by
Reply

The Marshall Independent reports…

Internet access has become a vital resource for public school districts and libraries. It’s something that goes beyond the classroom too, Marshall Public Schools staff said last week. Everything from communications and security systems to HVAC systems in schools also use internet connections.

“It’s not just about the internet. It’s the connectivity,” said MPS Director of Operations Tricia Stelter.

Education and technology workers said that’s a major reason why they’re concerned that the Federal Communications Commission is reviewing the federal E-Rate program, which gives schools discounts on internet service. Earlier this summer, the FCC said it will take comments on ways that the program can be updated – including whether it should be reformed or eliminated.

The article goes on to share comments from educators and others from Marshall and Lyons counties on their concerns about the future of the E-Rate program…

Sumption said about 32 school districts across southwest Minnesota, and most of the libraries in the Plum Creek regional library system, are affected by the E-Rate program. On average, they receive a total of about $2.24 million a year in E-Rate funding, he said.

Sumption said the E-Rate program has been “an equalizer” for schools and libraries around Minnesota.

“It’s just helped level the playing field, and gives everyone the chance to connect up,” he said.

Staff from both Marshall Public Schools and SWWC said E-Rate funding has a big impact on area schools.

State Broadband Offices, including in Minnesota, are waiting for guidance on BEAD funding

Posted on by
Reply

KOSU Public Radio reports...

State officials are waiting for guidance on how they can spend billions of federal dollars earmarked for rural broadband projects.

The federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment, or BEAD, Program is meant to help states connect far-flung places to high speed internet. Congress allocated about $42 billion for BEAD in 2023 through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It was the largest investment in federal broadband infrastructure in the nation’s history.

They spoke with the MN Office of Broadband Development…

Minnesota received $652 million through BEAD – which is not enough to connect the rest of the state, said Bree Maki, the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development’s executive director. She’s waiting for instructions for how she can spend about $270 million.

“We also know that weather in Minnesota is a big factor and so, just trying to maximize the construction season and when the non-deployment comes out, you know, we’ll deal with it,” Maki said. “We have always worked hard to meet deadlines and the requirements in front of us. I wish I could predict that, because then I would go hit the lottery up.”

She’s also unsure how an executive order on artificial intelligence signed by President Donald Trump last year might impact access to the leftover BEAD money. The order says that states with “onerous AI laws” are ineligible for the funds, but that definition remains unclear, Maki said.

There has been frustration with BEAD, but Maki said the mission of getting even one person connected to reliable broadband keeps her office motivated. Her state has other broadband projects in the works too, and she is confident they will keep moving forward.

“Sometimes, I think, in all the noise we forget how meaningful that is,” Maki said.

 

 FCC Commissioner outlines four principles that have guided the US approach to communications policy

Posted on by
Reply

In a Keynote speech in Colombia, FCC Commissioner Olivia Britt Trusty outlines four principles that have guided the US approach to communications policy…

This afternoon, I will discuss four principles that have guided much of the United States’ approach to communications policy and have helped to enable the vibrant and prosperous digital ecosystem we benefit from today. Those principles include the following:

Principle 1: Successful digital markets depend upon sustained investment into resilient, adaptable, secure, and trusted communications infrastructure;

Principle 2: Robust competition is essential to continuous innovation and consumer choice;

Principle 3: Innovation flourishes when regulation remains flexible and can adapt alongside technological change; and

Principle 4: International cooperation is strongest when it advances our shared interests while respecting each nation’s sovereignty, laws, and institutions.

Pew reports that half of Americans say they spend too much time on their smartphone

Posted on by
Reply

Pew Research Center reports...

Between scrolling, notifications, and messages, smartphones can be hard to put down. Just over half of U.S. adults say they spend too much time on their smartphone, according to a Pew Research Center survey from May and June 2026. About a third of adults say their smartphone use is about right, while just 3% say they spend too little time using these devices.

Monticello Tech set to pay city costs for data center review (Wright County)

Posted on by
Reply

Monticello Times reports…

As Monticello Tech’s proposed data center moves into detailed city review, the developer — not city taxpayers — will pick up the tab for outside costs associated with evaluating the project.

The City Council on Aug. 24 approved an escrow agreement with Monticello Tech for review of its proposed 550-acre technology campus south of 85th Street NE and east of Highway 25.

The agreement establishes a developer-funded account the city can draw from as its planners, engineers, environmental consultants and attorneys dig into the proposal. City policy requires such agreements for commercial and industrial land use applications involving more than 51 acres.

Monticello Tech must initially deposit $10,000 into the account.

If the balance drops below $5,000, the developer must replenish it as directed by the city — or the city can halt its review until more money is deposited.

More info...

City staff initially determined the developer’s July 6 land use applications were incomplete. Monticello Tech submitted a substantially revised package Aug. 3 and supplemental materials Aug. 11, and the city has since determined it has enough information to begin evaluating the proposal itself.

Monticello Tech is seeking three approvals during the current phase: rezoning for a Data Center Planned Unit Development, a conditional use permit and a preliminary plat.

The developer is proposing an approximately 3 million-square-foot technology campus that could ultimately include as many as eight data center buildings constructed in phases over several years.

Bemidji Planning Board continues to discuss data center moratorium and will again on Sep 14, 2026 (Beltrami County)

Posted on by
Reply

KAXE reports…

A one-year moratorium on data centers larger than 10,000 square feet is moving through the steps of the approval process in Bemidji.

The Bemidji Planning Commission hosted a public hearing during its sparsely attended meeting Thursday, Aug. 27. The commission is made up of volunteer citizens, who unanimously recommended approval of the moratorium.

Planning Director Jamin Carlson said the city’s legal team put together the ordinance under consideration. He said most moratoriums are in place for a year or less.

The discussion started a while back…

The Bemidji Planning Board discussed a data center moratorium during its Aug. 10 meeting. The Planning Board is a different body than the Commission, which is advisory only. The Board consists of members of the Bemidji City Council.

And will continue…

Bemidjians will have another opportunity to comment on the data center moratorium at the next Planning Board meeting on Sept. 14.

 

Coon Rapids Police detail work 911 works for calls and how AI helps with non-emergency calls (Anoka County)

Posted on by
Reply

MinneapoliMedia reports...

Coon Rapids police are reminding residents what happens when they call 911, when they should instead use Anoka County’s non-emergency line, and how a newer artificial intelligence-assisted system now fits into the county’s emergency communications operation.

They do it all in a clean graphic.

GAO recommends FCC and NTIA work more closely with underserved areas and focus on sustainability

Posted on by
Reply

The GAO (Government Accountability Office reports…

Federal agencies target funding to underserved areas using FCC mapping data showing which locations do and do not have broadband access, as reported by providers. To improve data accuracy, FCC accepts challenges from the public and makes updates if needed. Some program participants and stakeholders said this challenge process was burdensome and unclear. For example, challenging a
large number of locations in an area could be difficult for smaller communities and providers with limited resources. Without targeted outreach to smaller communities and providers to address such difficulties, FCC may not be able to obtain the most accurate information about broadband availability and therefore may not be able to effectively identify and target funding to underserved areas.
As one of the largest programs focused on broadband deployment GAO reviewed, BEAD holds great potential to make broadband available to areas that have been underserved. GAO has previously reported on issues providers face in high-cost areas, including financial sustainability. In October 2025, NTIA announced a requirement that BEAD providers certify that they will not accept federal funding from other sources for broadband deployment and operations costs for locations funded by BEAD for at least 10 years. This provision is intended to ensure that BEAD projects are financially self-sustainable without additional federal funding. NTIA’s BEAD documentation for states and territories states that there may be a basis for them to request certain data from providers. However, NTIA did not detail the circumstances that could warrant such a request. By providing more details, NTIA would help states anticipate potential
problems and prevent service lapses to underserved areas when providers cannot continue providing services due to financial issues.

Getting into specifics…

Recommendations for Executive Action
Agency Affected – Federal Communications Commission
Recommendation – The Chair of FCC should conduct targeted outreach to smaller participants (such as local and tribal governments and providers), to identify and address difficulties they have experienced completing the bulk Broadband Data Collection challenge process. (Recommendation 1)

Agency Affected – National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Recommendation – The NTIA Administrator should provide information to NTIA’s partner states and territories on when and why to request additional information from BEAD subrecipients, to monitor and support their ability to remain financially sustainable in offering affordable broadband during the 10-year federal interest period. (Recommendation 2)

MN eNews Sep 2026: News on MN data center, BEAD, and MN

Posted on by
Reply

MN Broadband Task Force August 2026: rural libraries and workforce training
The MN Broadband Task Force heard from national speakers on rural libraries and workforce training. Also, there was a big update from the Office of Broadband Development.

MN Letters to the editor on data centers (July 7-Aug 17 2026)
Careful readers will notice that data centers have become a bigger issue in Minnesota, the Midwest and beyond. I’m trying to track the upcoming events and news in real time. I decided to compile the letters ro editors and option pieces.

State News

National News

 Vendor/Technology News

Office of Broadband Development Updates and News:

Local Broadband News

Bemidji
Bemidji considers data center moratorium (Beltrami County)

Cambridge
Cambridge City Council unanimously approved the one-year moratorium on data centers (Isanti County)

Carlton County
Carlton County passed a one-year freeze on new data center developments

Chisago
Chisago County Commissioners vote to impose a one-year moratorium on applications

Elk River
Elk River adopts one-year data center moratorium (Sherburne County)

Ely
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy spokesperson talks in Ely about data centers (St Louis County)

Faribault
Environmental Commission to present data center moratorium to Faribault city council (Rice County)

Farmington
Mayor of Farmington talks about situation with local data center (Dakota County)

Fergus Falls
Fergus Falls denies data center rumors tied to RTC nondisclosure agreement (Otter Tail County)

Freeborn County
Freeborn County extends data center moratorium for another year

Glencoe
The McLeod County Chronicle Editor raises questions about plans for Revolve Labs data center in Glencoe

Harmony
Harmony city leaders hear from residents at Public meeting on data centers – next meeting Sept 16, 2026
More details on Harmony City Council meeting (Aug 5) on data center (Fillmore County)
Residents and leaders meet to discuss data centers in Harmony – next public meeting in Aug 26, 2026 (Fillmore County)

Hastings
Hastings City Council to vote on data center moratorium on Aug 17, 2026 (Dakota County)

Hermantown
The “Stop the Hermantown Data Center” group met to talk about strategies (St Louis County)
Google has scaled back its plans for a proposed data center in Hermantown (St Louis County)

Google is visiting MN communities (Pine Island & Hermantown) where they are looking at data centers Goodhue & Olmstead and St Louis Counties)
Hermantown data center discussion takes some turns that result in proposed greater transparency (St Louis County)

Inver Grove Heights
Data center lawsuit could cost Inver Grove Heights taxpayers millions (Dakota County)

Isanti
City of Isanti data center moratorium is now one year (Isanti County)

Itasca
Looks like Itasca County Commissioners are learning about data centers

La Crosse (WI)
La Crosse (WI) City Plan Commission advances 18-month moratorium on data center development

Minneapolis
North Loop Neighborhood Association outlines likely timeline for the data center proposal (Hennepin County)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks up about data centers
North Loop Mpls data center meetings raise questions in preparation for North Loop association on Aug 26, 2026 (Hennepin County)
Is it AI or is it art? And how do we differentiate? The Walker is looking into it
MPR speaks to Minnesota Design Center and their work leading discussion about data centers in Minneapolis (Hennepin County)
Outage at 511 Building in Mpls suspected cause of telecommunications disruptions last week
FOX9 tracks view on proposed data center locating to the former Star Tribune

Minnetrista
Minnetrista City Council approves a one-year moratorium on data centers (Hennepin County)

Monticello
Monticello gets more details on proposed data center (Wright County)

New Ulm
Congressional candidate Jake Johnson (CD1) talks about data centers at New Ulm Town Hall meeting (Brown County)

Nobles County
Lismore Cooperative Telephone updates Nobles County Board on FTTP network and line extension progress

North Mankato
North Mankato City Council prepares for data center moratorium vote (Nicollet and Blue Earth Counties)
North Mankato data center moratorium tabled for two weeks (Nicollet and Blue Earth Counties)

Northfield
Northfield moves to ban hyperscale data centers (Rice and Dakota Counties)

Pine County
Pine County extends data center moratorium to 12 months
Pine County adopts a 6-month moratorium on data centers will hold public meeting Aug 18, 2026

Ruthton
The Foundation for Rural Service tours policymakers to learn about rural broadband with a stop in Ruthton MN

St Paul
DIGIDAZE in St Paul aims to boost digital confidence for attendees

Southern MN
Fidium now serves 30,000 homes and businesses in southern Minnesota (Blue Earth, Nicollet and Le Sueur Counties)

Thief River Falls
EVENT Sep 15, 2026: Thief River Falls City Council holds public meeting on data centers

Wright County
Wright County Board to discuss “Satellite Ground Station” proposed for Rockford Township – apparently approved by the FCC

Upcoming Events, Opportunities and Resources

 

FCC takes Gigabit access off the broadband speed goal board

Posted on by
Reply

Ars Technica reports…

The Federal Communications Commission last week eliminated the gigabit speed goal established during the Biden administration and declared that current levels of broadband deployment in the US are acceptable. Though fiber networks have routinely offered such speeds for years, the FCC said the gigabit speed goal is not “technologically neutral,” suggesting that it isn’t fair to other, slower technologies.

In 2024, the FCC raised its broadband benchmark to 100Mbps downstream and 20Mbps upstream, setting the new standard by which to judge whether deployment is reasonable and timely. The FCC at the time also set a long-term speed goal of 1Gbps download speeds paired with 500Mbps upload speeds, saying it would use the goal “as a guidepost for evaluating our efforts to encourage deployment.”

Republican Brendan Carr, who is now the FCC chairman, never liked that long-term goal. He proposed abolishing it last year, and the change was finalized on August 14 in the FCC’s latest broadband deployment report. The reports are mandated by Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act.

“As part of our return to following the plain language of Section 706, we adopt our proposal from the Notice [of Inquiry] to abolish without replacement the long-term goal of 1,000/500 Mbps established in the 2024 Report,” the order said. “A long-term goal is not mentioned in Section 706 and could appear to violate our obligation to conduct our analysis in a technologically neutral manner. At present, it is impossible to predict long-term technological developments and the evolution of consumer preferences.”

The FCC said that comments submitted by cable industry group NCTA and wireless industry group CTIA “support our reasoning for abolishing the long-term goal.”

Doug Adams reports on final BEAD dollars and technology

Posted on by
Reply

Broadband.IO reports…

Now that the last final proposal is approved, we’re finally able to tally just how much of the BEAD dollars will be deployed for direct connections and how much is non-deployment… or ‘savings’ as the NTIA continues to call them.

  • Total BSLs designated connectivity through BEAD: 3,739,925
  • BEAD funding approved by the NTIA using BOB guidance: $18B
  • Non-deployment dollars: $22.5B
  • Percentage of originally designated IIJA/BEAD dollars allocated: 44.25%

OPPORTUNITY: NDIA Trailblazer Applications Now Open!

Posted on by
Reply

From the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA)…

NDIA is now accepting applications for the 2026 Digital Inclusion Trailblazers! Trailblazers are municipal, county, or regional governments recognized by NDIA for paving the way for excellent digital inclusion work and providing models for digitally inclusive communities committed to advancing digital equity.

“Striving for the NDIA Trailblazer indicators has helped focus and uplift our digital inclusion efforts while providing a wealth of insights from other communities to learn from. This program and our recognition have sparked new momentum and partnerships for digital equity in South Bend.” Patrick McGuire, Technology Equity Manager, City of South Bend

Apply to be a 2026 Trailblazer