The future of a property in Minneapolis’ North Loop is suddenly wide open. A data center developer is walking away from a deal to purchase the old Star Tribune printing facility. Ubah Ali heard reactions from residents in the neighborhood.
Paul Bunyan Communications announces…
broadband expansion project in Hubbard County, bringing the GigaZone® all-fiber optic network one step closer to more than 220 homes and businesses.
This expansion is taking place in two areas of Hubbard County:
Areas of Henrietta and Todd Townships south of Fishhook Lake
The area south of Fishhook Lake is finished and services are now available. Todd Township construction will begin soon and is expected to be completed by the end of construction season.
Areas south and west of Long Lake in Hubbard Township. Construction is almost done. Fiber splicing will follow with services anticipated becoming available by the end of the year.
“We’re excited to be nearing the finish line on this important project,” said Chad Bullock, CEO of Paul Bunyan Communications. “This expansion reflects our continued commitment to bringing essential, high-speed broadband to underserved areas. Reliable internet is critical for work, education, healthcare, and staying connected, and we’re proud to deliver that through our all-fiber optic network.”
Once activated, customers will have access to GigaZone® Internet and WiFi, offering speeds up to 10 Gig and the reliability needed to support today’s connected homes and businesses. Voice services, including unlimited local and long-distance calling, will also be available. Business customers will benefit from Managed IT Business Services such as VOIP, Disaster Backup and Recovery, and Network Management.
“This project represents a significant upgrade for these townships,” said Leo Anderson, Chief Technology Officer of Paul Bunyan Communications. “Our all-fiber optic network is built for performance and future growth, ensuring these communities have the connectivity they need for years to come.”
Residents and businesses are encouraged to sign up now if they have not already done so to ensure timely connection as service becomes available. There is no membership fee to join the cooperative; membership begins when subscribing to GigaZone® Internet or local phone service.
To check availability or sign up for service, visit http://www.paulbunyan.net, call, or stop by the cooperative’s headquarters in Bemidji.
This project is made possible through a USDA ReConnect Round 3 grant award. The portion of construction built with grant dollars will be an estimated $500,000.
From Paul Bunyan Communications…
Construction is nearing completion on the major all-fiber optic broadband expansion project in Itasca and St. Louis Counties, bringing the GigaZone® all-fiber optic network one step closer to more than 600 homes and businesses.
The western most part of the project is done and services are now available. This includes portions of Carpenter Township and the unorganized township east of Carpenter Township.
Construction in Sturgeon Township and the western part of Alango Township is done with fiber splicing underway. Service installations are expected to begin by the end of October.
Construction is now taking place in Field Township and northern Alango Township. Once completed fiber splicing will begin. Service installations are expected to begin over winter.
“We’re excited to be nearing the finish line on this important project,” said Chad Bullock, CEO of Paul Bunyan Communications. “This expansion reflects our continued commitment to bringing essential, high-speed broadband to underserved areas. Reliable internet is critical for work, education, healthcare, and staying connected, and we are proud to deliver that through our all-fiber optic network.”
Once activated, customers will have access to GigaZone® Internet and WiFi, offering speeds up to 10 Gig and the reliability needed to support today’s connected homes and businesses. Voice services, including unlimited local and long-distance calling, will also be available. Business customers will benefit from Managed IT Business Services such as VOIP, Disaster Backup and Recovery, and Network Management.
“This project represents a significant upgrade for these townships,” said Leo Anderson, Chief Technology Officer of Paul Bunyan Communications. “Our all-fiber optic network is built for performance and future growth, ensuring these communities have the connectivity they need for years to come.”
Residents and businesses are encouraged to sign up now if they have not already done so to ensure timely connection as service becomes available. There is no membership fee to join the cooperative; membership begins when subscribing to GigaZone® Internet or local phone service.
To check availability or sign up for service, visit http://www.paulbunyan.net, call, or stop by the Grand Rapids Customer Service & Technology Center.
This project is made possible through the State of Minnesota, Department of Employment & Economic Development, Low-Density Population Broadband Infrastructure Development Grant Program. This project is estimated to cost $7,810,355, with the State of Minnesota’s Low-Population Density Program grant contributing $3,924,157, Paul Bunyan Communications investing $2,203,928, Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation (IRRR) investing $1,000,000, St. Louis County investing $583,250, Alango Township $41,200, Field Township $17,800, and Sturgeon Township $40,000.
The Plymouth City Council unanimously approved a moratorium on new data centers, which have come under increasing scrutiny in cities across the country.
The approval came at its Sept. 8 council meeting.
Grant Fernelius, the city’s community and economic development director, acknowledged a company recently contacted the city about building a data center of “fairly significant” size.
No official proposal has come forward, but the incident led city leaders to take action.
Plymouth’s moratorium will last one year and impacts data center proposals of at least 50,000 square feet.
The city council initially considered starting with at least 75,000 square feet, which is approximately the size of a Cub grocery store in Plymouth, but opted for the smaller building footprint.
The moratorium would not apply to existing businesses.
A Virginia-based developer has withdrawn from a deal to transform the former Star Tribune printing facility in Minneapolis into a data center. The proposal drew heavy criticism from residents of the city’s North Loop neighborhood.
Minneapolis spokesperson Jess Olstad confirmed that Legacy Investing withdrew a land use application for the proposed facility, which would have included a 20-megawatt data center as well as other developments at nearby parcels.
More info…
Legacy did not respond to requests for comment. Emails to the company bounced back. Legacy previously developed a slightly larger data center in the Sleep Number building in downtown Minneapolis.
The proposed data center drew strong opposition at neighborhood forums last month from hundreds of city residents, who questioned the environmental impacts of the facility. Residents also doubted the facility would bring lasting jobs to the city.
Representatives for Legacy argued that the facility would only use as much water as two residential homes and that the facility would kickstart other nearby developments.
Iron Range’s Aaron Brown offers perspectives on data centers
The Star Tribune publishes a column from Iron Range journalist, Aaron Brown, on data centers. He talks about many aspects of the issue and gets to some conclusions…
Opposition to data centers contains nuances. Gallup shows that people generally see the economic benefits of data centers, and many of us have begun using AI — some begrudgingly, some with enthusiasm.
What if we right-sized the data center debate? What if we acknowledge the need for computing power without giving a blank check to companies who consume resources with reckless abandon?
Minnesota already has more than 73 enterprise data centers, mostly housed in government and corporate facilities. The controversy surrounds so-called hyperscale data centers of 10,000 square feet or more. Only one such facility, a 715,000-square foot campus in Rosemount, is currently under construction in this state. Several more, including Google proposals in Hermantown and Pine Island, are navigating the regulatory process and growing local opposition.
Brown offers a recommendation…
Building up existing infrastructure with sustainability in mind should be our public priority. We must establish goals for the public good, not just for those investing billions in the most expensive technology that most people still don’t want.
These meetings are interesting if you’re able to attend…
Technology Advisory Council – Full Council Meeting:
- Date:Friday, September 11, 2026
- Time:8:30 – 11 a.m. CT
- Location:Virtual Meeting – email mnit@state.mn.us for information on how to join the meeting.
- Agenda:
- Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) Updates
- Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Progress Update
- Council Discussion
Upcoming Meetings
Technology Advisory Council – Full Council Meeting:
- Date:TBD
- Time:8:30 – 11 a.m. CT
- Location:In-Person Meeting – tentatively 600 North Robert Street, St. Paul, MN 55146 – email mnit@state.mn.us for information on how to join the meeting.
The Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce is responding to backlash – and the loss of multiple business memberships – after they announced their support of the proposed data center in Hermantown.
In a letter sent to members of the Chamber, they reiterated their reasoning behind their support.
They also restated that two of the main concerns being expressed locally come from other projects across the country and they are negated by the specifics of this project.
This letter comes after Zenith Bookstore, Townline Farms, and Loban Dental announced they have ended their membership as a result of this decision.
IronGate Data Centers runs two data centers along Bielenberg Drive in Woodbury. Data Center Map places IronGate Twin Cities East at 401 Bielenberg Drive and IronGate Twin Cities West at 500 Bielenberg Drive. On its website, IronGate calls them MSP 01 and MSP 02, respectively.
Though data centers operate outside public view, their electricity, cooling and backup systems can raise questions about power use, city water and future expansion.
The publication asks and answers a series of pragmatic questions about the data centers:
While the article will be of most interest to folks in Woodbury, there are some nuggets for everyone. For example…
Under Minnesota law, the Public Utilities Commission must consider making very large electric customers cover the costs that utilities incur to serve them while protecting other customers from stranded costs.
Y105FK out of Rochester reports…
According to Data Center Map, Minnesota already has 81 data centers operating or in the planning phase across the state. The majority of the data centers are in the Minneapolis Market. The next biggest market for Data Centers is Duluth, with 6.
Others (KADOA, Aterio and others) have done counts and Data Center Map count falls the same ballpark.
The League of Minnesota Cities reports…
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering sweeping new rules that could significantly limit how cities manage wireline telecommunications infrastructure in public rights-of-way. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireline Deployments (WC Docket No. 25-253), according to the FCC, is intended to accelerate broadband construction by reducing what the FCC characterizes as “excessive permitting delays, fees and other local requirements.”
For cities, however, the proposal reaches well beyond routine streamlining. If adopted, it would establish federal standards for local permitting timelines, cost recovery, and negotiated conditions while making it easier for providers to challenge local requirements as barriers to deployment under Section 253 of the Communications Act.
The article details specifics proposals on the following topics:
And explains the potential impact on cities…
The proposed rules could have broad implications for how cities manage public rights-of-way and receive compensation for their use. Wireline construction in the public right-of-way is not a simple desk review. These projects often involve excavation, traffic control, road closures, utility coordination, engineering review, inspections and restoration. Requiring every authorization to fit within one federal timeline, particularly if the clock starts with an incomplete submission or applies to a large batch, could strain staff capacity and make careful coordination more difficult. Smaller and rural communities may feel those pressures most acutely.
The Benton Institute for Broadband and Society is hosting a conversation…
Communications policy is entering a new era. The technologies, markets, and institutions that defined the last three decades are changing rapidly. At the same time, policymakers face fundamental questions about competition, affordability, resilience, accountability, and the public obligations that should accompany essential digital infrastructure.
On September 24, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society will bring together leaders from industry, government, academia, and the public-interest community for A New Compact for Connectivity: Internet Infrastructure in the Public Interest, a one-day convening exploring the future of connectivity policy.
The day will begin by asking how enduring technical principles and public-interest values apply to today’s internet infrastructure. We will examine how the broadband marketplace is evolving; the tools available to the public sector to achieve universal connectivity; and, finally, who can provide meaningful oversight of essential digital infrastructure.
Details:
Thursday, September 24th, 10:00am – 4:00pm ET
Barbara Jordan Conference Center, 1330 G St. NW. Washington, DC
The event will be live-streamed on the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s YouTube channel if you cannot attend in person.
Benton recently featured an article from one of the presenters, Dr. Amelia Acker, called, How Public is the Public Cloud. Here’s a taste of it…
I want to end where I began. Public institutions have obligations that their infrastructure providers do not. These obligations are measured in decades, possibly centuries, while IT firms are driven by quarterly business earnings and three-year contract cycles.
We crafted policy for telecommunications, electricity, railroads, banking, and broadcasting because Americans became so dependent on these services that they had become emblematic of what it means to participate in public life and belong to society. Public interest regulation should focus on dependencies, because dependence creates obligations to users that extend beyond any contract.
What “public” really means is the question underneath all of this. Writing in 2006, the philosopher and librarian Ed D’Angelo warned that markets, when left to govern information on their own, tend toward “the monopoly capitalism of a few major players.”[19] A market can coordinate consumption. But it cannot decide what a society owes its members.
For decades, telecommunications policy has confronted how Americans should be connected to networks. The next compact must focus on what happens after they connect.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration is looking for feedback on their Internet Use Survey…
NTIA seeks feedback under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) on a set of questions for the November 2027 edition of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). This collection of questions is known as the NTIA internet Use Survey and is also referred to as the CPS Computer and internet Use Supplement. NTIA has sponsored eighteen such surveys since 1994.
You can send an open ending email. They also have some suggested questions…
The bureau also welcomes comment on any of the following questions. Where possible, cite question numbers and propose specific, tested language:
Is data from the NTIA Internet Use Survey important in 2027? Should the survey be continued?
Which NTIA Internet Use Survey questions should remain unchanged in 2027 to preserve useful longitudinal time series?
How should the survey questions or language be updated for technology use in 2027?
Which questions should be kept because they are used by researchers, policymakers, and/or industry? Please explain how the question(s) are used.
Which questions use outdated language or will not provide useful data in 2027? Should these questions be removed? If not, how should they be changed?
Internet connectivity and applications have changed substantially since the survey instrument was substantively rewritten a decade ago. For example, the role of the internet in Americans’ lives is often unnoticed, from smart appliances to single-player video games that require online connections. How (if at all) should questions on the NTIA Internet Use Survey be edited, removed, or added to address the evolution of these technologies and the words we use to describe them?
Commenters often suggest adding questions, but space for questions is limited. If your comment proposed additional questions, are there other questions that should be removed to make space? Or would some questions be better asked in a different venue?
Are some questions (or potential questions) particularly important for policymakers or industry? Please explain. For example, as a supplement to the CPS, the nation’s primary source of labor statistics, the survey might provide key insights on internet use and the workforce.
What questions (or potential questions) are of particular importance for enabling high-quality evaluation of NTIA’s broadband grant programs and other federal broadband programs? Are there particular gaps in existing program evaluation data that could be filled by adding certain questions to the NTIA Internet Use Survey?
In what ways can survey language be customized to support cross-country comparison?
Is there a need for more data around children’s use of the internet and digital devices? Are there particular areas that need more data, such as screen use in schools or parental perceptions of children’s tech use? Is the NTIA Internet Use Survey, a CPS supplement, the most appropriate place for this, or should that data be gathered in other ways?
Is there a need for more data around artificial intelligence (AI)? Are there particular areas that need more data, such as AI use at work or home, or attitudes towards AI? Is the NTIA Internet Use Survey, a CPS supplement, the most appropriate place for this, or should that data be gathered in other ways?
Doug Dawson (POTS & PANS) takes a look at the disadvantage to consumers when telecommunications customer cut the copper…
But there are still good policy reasons for not tearing down the networks. For many rural households, a telephone landline is the only way to reliably reach 911 or to make the daily calls needed to connect to doctors, banks, and other necessities of daily life. The FCC and state regulators have all said they support tearing down copper as long as customers have an equivalent alternative for voice. And that’s where the rub comes. The Internet is full of stories of people who have lost their copper with no alternative available. Unless a telco is replacing copper with fiber, they generally tell customers to change to wireless broadband. Everybody who lives in rural America knows that cell coverage is poor or nonexistent in much of rural America. But the lack of cell coverage doesn’t seem to be a deterrent for the big telcos that want to get rid of the copper.
People can always change to Starlink, assuming they live in a place where they don’t have to cut down a bunch of trees or put up an expensive tall pole to receive service. But this means replacing a $30 landline bill with a $130 Starlink bill. Even then, a customer has to be sophisticated enough to subscribe to a WiFi calling service through a web connection and worry about losing 911 when power goes out.
I recently read an article on Medium by Bruce Kushnick that points out another motivation for the big telcos to tear down copper. When a telco eliminates the last copper infrastructure in a state, it is theoretically no longer subject to Title II traditional regulation. The FCC and courts have rules that broadband and voice services carried across all other technologies are subject to Title I regulation as an information service.
This is a big deal that is not being talked about. Carriers subject to Title II regulation are required to offer just and reasonable rates. Title II carriers are subject to strict rules about protecting customer information. Title II carriers are subject to all sorts of rules for things like having specific rules about when and how a customer can be disconnected for nonpayment. Title II carriers are subject to mandatory obligations to interconnect with other carriers.
If a telco can change to become regulated by Title I rules, all of these regulatory obligations would go away. If a big telco could get every single customer off copper in a state, they’d have a good case to make that they are no longer subject to any Title II regulation. I’m positive that this is where AT&T and Verizon are headed. They would probably have to petition a state to make the change, but in most states they will win their argument.
A new poll is looking to answer the question of how much support there is in the Pine Island community for the data center project.
The person behind the poll, who shared the results with ABC 6 News, said it only counted people who have addresses within 55963 area code. It should also be noted that the author has publicly pushed back on the data center project.
Of the over 650 people who responded to the poll, just over 19% said they support the project while nearly 76% said they did not support it. 4.4% said they were not sure.
These numbers track with broader results, including a recent KSTP/SurveyUSA poll that found 60% of Minnesotans oppose data centers in their area, 27% are in favor, and the remainder were uncertain.
The article includes the full report.