Blandin on Broadband

News and information on broadband use, policy, and trends

Blandin on Broadband

Data centers consumed 4.4% of US electricity use in 2023

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KTTC reports on data centers, starting with concise description of different types of data centers…

Cloud Data Centers are the facilities your personal data touches the most often. These data centers are very large facilities commonly run by cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft (Asure), IBM Cloud, or other public cloud providers. They support massive databases, workloads, and global scalability that social media networks and platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Netflix rely on.

Enterprise Data Centers are private facilities that companies and corporations either own or rent to handle their own sensitive data or host in-house services. These can be small or large facilities or rent out portions of larger data center facilities.

Colocation Data Centers are what we call facilities that share space with multiple companies. “Colo” data centers handle the infrastructure (the building, cooling, bandwidth, security, etc.) so companies can use the equipment as they need or store their specific equipment.

Hyperscalers are the massive facilities that AI companies primarily use because they are designed specifically to allow for the processing and handling of massive amounts of data and compute. These facilities are the ones that tend to house hundreds of thousands of GPUs that allow services like Chat GPT and Claude to function at the scale they do.

Edge Data Centers are the smallest form of data center and are typically found on location of local users or in a smaller, decentralized facility nearby. There are many cases when companies don’t need a whole data center and instead just need a few servers to handle their data; this is where Edge centers come into play.

The article outlines electricity use…

It’s estimated that the “global datasphere” in 2025 (data created, captured or replicated across global infrastructure) was around 175 zettabytes of data. That’s 175,000,000,000,000 gigabytes that all requires electricity to process.

According to a 2021 study, it’s estimated that U.S. data centers consumed about 1.8% of U.S. electricity. It’s worth noting this study uses data from 2018-2020, so just before the AI boom.

U.S. data centers consumed about 176 TWh of electricity in 2023 (4.4% of U.S. electricity), driven largely by AI workloads and accelerated data-center expansion, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Including electricity impact on water use…

It’s estimated that about 75% of water impacts occur through electricity generation involved with data centers while the remaining 25% is actually used onsite.

Data centers in MN have received $1+ billion in tax breaks since 2015

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KSTP TV reports…

Minnesota has quietly provided more than $1 billion in tax breaks to data centers over the past decade, subsidizing everything from computer equipment and software to electricity and cooling systems.

The tax incentive, originally created to attract and grow the data center industry in Minnesota, has been used by 42 facilities across the state.

Right now, the data centers receiving the exemptions are smaller facilities on corporate campuses scattered around the Twin Cities metro or are run by third parties that rent space to businesses.

But as developers pursue much larger, hyperscale data centers in communities across Minnesota, some lawmakers and residents question whether the anticipated growth in this public investment will deliver enough benefits to justify the cost.

State data reviewed by 5 INVESTIGATES shows the Minnesota Department of Revenue processed nearly $1.02 billion in sales tax exemptions for data centers since 2015.

Google data center vote postponed in Hermantown to 7:30pm Oct 27

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MPR reports…

Following two hours of nonstop chanting and protests, the Hermantown City Council on Monday night postponed a series of votes on whether to give final local approval to a controversial proposed Google data center just outside Duluth.

It’s the latest indication of just how contentious proposed data centers have become in Minnesota and across the nation in advance of the midterm election, as tech giants rush to build the giant computer server farms that are needed to power artificial intelligence.

The drama began just before the council meeting was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Hundreds of people had crammed into Hermantown’s city hall to attend the special meeting. Most couldn’t squeeze into the small council chambers and instead were routed to a large overflow room.

Dozens of people lined up to sign up to speak. But many were still in line when the sign-up ended before the meeting was scheduled to begin.

Nearly 100 people began chanting “Let us speak!” outside the council chambers. After a half-hour of nonstop chanting, protesters began shouting “Shut it down!”

Eventually the meeting was postponed…

After two hours, city leaders announced the meeting would be postponed until Tuesday, and they said people had 10 minutes to disperse or they would be arrested. Protesters erupted in cheers.

Postponed for a day…

Hermantown assistant city administrator Joe Wicklund said city officials decided to postpone the meeting because they couldn’t guarantee a safe event.

Northern News Now reports on the upcoming meeting…

 The council meeting originally scheduled for 6:30pm Monday was called and immediately adjourned and rescheduled for 7:30pm Tuesday, according to our crew on scene.

We will continue to provide updates right here and on our Facebook page.

KSTP creates an interactive map of data centers in Minnesota

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KSTP TV reports…

5 INVESTIGATES created an interactive map showing operational, decommissioned and proposed data centers in Minnesota.

Most of the facilities are either enterprise data centers or colocation facilities.

Enterprise data centers are operated and maintained solely by one company and most often sit within the footprint of a corporate or global campus. Colocation centers are owned by third-party companies that rent space to private businesses for servers and computing equipment.

Both enterprise and colocation centers have been in Minnesota for more than a decade and many are receiving sales tax exemptions from the state.

Benton Institute’s update on Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program

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The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society reports…

The public comment period on the application paperwork for a revived Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program closes today, October 26, 2026. And in a brief filing last week, the federal government told a court that a December opening is still the plan.

On October 23, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and the government filed a joint status report in National Digital Inclusion Alliance v. Trump. The filing runs two pages. Its substance is a single sentence: the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) “remains on track to publish the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program and the application for that program in December 2026.”

For readers coming to this cold: the Digital Equity Act of 2021 created the Competitive Grant Program to fund digital inclusion work by local governments, nonprofits, Tribes and Native entities, community anchor institutions, school districts, and workforce organizations. President Donald Trump terminated the program in May 2025. NDIA sued. In July 2026, Judge John D. Bates held that one of the Act’s eight “covered populations”—individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group—is an unconstitutional racial classification, but that the provision can be set aside while the rest of the statute continues to operate. The government then told the court it would reinstate the program without that provision through a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).1

TOOL: Website that ranks potential datacenter sites by looking at power availability, speed-to-power, fiber, water, and hazard

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GridCensus is a site selection tool or a tool for anyone looking to locate a data center. I ran into it looking to see what’s happening with data centers by county for another post. As the image below shows, GridCensus lists 3,216 sites in Minnesota with a readiness score of 55.7.

Here’s more info on the readiness score…

GridCensus scores 147,272 candidate datacenter locations on a single 0–100 DC Readiness score. The score is a weighted blend of fourteen factors derived from public data sources. It is a screening tool to triage where to look first — not a site-specific engineering, environmental, or interconnection assessment.

Every source, how authoritative it is and when we last read it is listed on Data sources and standards. On the site dossier, click any dotted-underlined figure to see the record behind it.

Visit the site for a breakdown of factors and weight of each factor.

There may be other, similar resources and I can’t speak to the quality of the information but I found it interesting to look at what factors are included and where I could find listings.

OPPORTUNITY: Seven Star Communities: Calling for Applications to Recognize Native Entities

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An invitation from the NDIA…

Now in its third year, the Seven Star Communities program honors, highlights, and celebrates Native entities advancing digital inclusion. Indigenous partners are an important and growing part of our network of digital inclusion practitioners here at NDIA. We are also really excited that through our partnership with Waskawiwin, we will be able to offer Seven Star Communities Awardees support in attending Net Inclusion 2027!

The application for Seven Star Communities 2026 is now open!

A drive-by description of a data center being built in Port Washington WI

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KAXE shares a story from NPR as a journalist checks out a data center being built near Milwaukee…

Back here in Wisconsin, I’ve been driving through the state this week. And just north of Milwaukee, you quickly enter farm country – cornfields, rolling hills, barns and grain silos. Then suddenly, next to a highway, you get a visual shock.

And – oh, Henry, is this the data center on the left?

HENRY LARSON, BYLINE: It’s huge.

PFEIFFER: There’s something massive under construction over there.

It’s a hyper-scale data center in Port Washington, Wisconsin. I went there with NPR producer Henry Larson, and we could barely find words for how colossal this project is.

A town hall meeting in Preston (MN) leads to questions about Minnesota power transmission around Fillmore and Houston Counties

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The Fillmore County Journal reports…

A town hall meeting hosted by NO765MN on October 21 at the Preston Riverfront Center drew a full house.

Concerned citizens gathered to learn more about the proposed 765 kV transmission line. The transmission line is to extend from the South Dakota border and run all across the southern edge of Minnesota to Wisconsin. The proposal includes a 139-mile electric transmission line (the proposed Gopher-Badger Link) extending from the North Rochester Substation near Pine Island through Marion area to Bell Center, Wisconsin. Opponents believe this transmission line is being planned to power a proposed Google data center near Pine Island. The Gopher to Badger Link includes the Minnesota segment of the Maribell transmission line.

Xcel Energy and Dairyland Power maintain this 765 kV transmission line is part of a regional transmission plan developed through the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and it will strengthen the regional grid.

Some details on the line in and around Fillmore and Houston Counties…

Charlie Wray, John Pugleasa, and Kyle Johnson are members of NO765MN, which is a coalition of Minnesota farmers, landowners, municipalities, residents, and local governments who stand against the proposed transmission lines.

Wray explained the proposed 765 kV line passes through Minnesota, but it will not provide power for a single home in the area. The 765kV line will be carrying power from the west to the east. The current 161kV line will be replaced with a double-circuit 765/161 kV line. The 765kV will be the most voltage proposed in the upper Midwest.

This line will require 250 foot right of ways. The 150- to 200-foot steel lattice towers will be installed every 1,000-1,500 feet, marring the landscape. Current 161 kV poles are only 70 feet tall. To support these towers, concrete piers as much as 50 feet deep will be drilled deep into the land to anchor the towers.

Pugleasa, a former public health director, said the proposed line will go across his property. He is bothered by the unanswered questions about the effect the lattice towers and deep concrete piers will have on karst geology including the effect on water tables and trout streams. There clearly will be some effect, towers installed in unstable bedrock might be a terrible idea.

In Fillmore and Houston Counties the proposed route will pass near Caledonia, Eitzen, Spring Grove, Canton, Mabel and Harmony.

Landowners have been asked to sign easements but have been kept in the dark as to the purpose.

Kyle Johnson, Houston County farm and forestry business, said this needs to be stopped with the “certificate of need.” They don’t need this. The demand for power in Minnesota peaked in 2006. Demand for power is declining.

Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative looks at data center issues – including in MN

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St Cloud Times reports…

Mississippi River mayors recently came together to help river communities evaluate data center proposals, as the facilities continue to rapidly expand across the basin.

There are already more than 3,000 active data centers throughout the United States, including in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. As the need for artificial intelligence and data storage grows, more cities and counties are being approached by companies interested in building data centers in their communities. About three-quarters of the data centers currently planned are in the South or Midwest, according to a report from the Pew Research Center.

“We are now dealing with data centers and what that looks like,” said Melisa Logan, mayor of Blytheville, Arkansas, at a press conference on Oct. 21 in Natchez, Mississippi. “Construction of data centers in the United States has now reached a record $4.4 billion per month.”

Logan is also co-chair of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, a group of more than 100 river communities that span from Minnesota down to Louisiana. So far, more than 75% of MRCTI member cities have already been approached to host some form of AI infrastructure, Logan said. Many have asked the organization for guidance on how to protect community resources, such as water and utility service.

Did FCC exceed their authority when it established the USAC to administer the Universal Service Fund?

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I wrote a little bit about Universal Service Fund and USAC early in the summer; I’m going to borrow heavily from Doug Dawson to give the update and his astute perspective…

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the FCC had exceeded its statutory authority  years ago when it established the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to administer the Universal Service Fund.

The case in front of the court involved Consumers’ Research, which challenged the latest FCC calculation of the contribution factor used to establish the fee that telcos pay into the fund. Consumers’ Research had also challenged the FCC’s authority to establish USAC to administer the fund.

Doug gives a great explanation of the role of USAC in his article, I’m going to shortcut it and say, they manage the funds for the FCC But the FCC makes the calls. Which leads to some questions…

What does this ruling mean? The FCC has to first decide how it wants to respond to the court ruling. It’s been reported in the press that the FCC says the ruling goes into effect in two months if the agency doesn’t  appeal the ruling. If the FCC appeals the ruling, the most routine outcome would be a court ordering business as usual until that appeal can be heard. It’s not certain that the FCC will appeal the case, and if it doesn’t, things get messy very quickly.

The FCC would have to somehow try to take over USAC functions. The agency is not staffed to do so, which would likely result in chaos. It probably wouldn’t be easy, or even possible, for the FCC to somehow absorb USAC staff.

The companies that pay into the USF would be in limbo because the collection process would be disrupted. I picture legal challenges and confusion and possibly lawsuits related to whether telcos owe fees to the FCC, the federal Treasury, or to nobody. Disbursements from the fund would quickly be disrupted. That would be a major problem for the many entities that draw payments from the $9 billion annual fund. It’s hard to picture what happens when schools can no longer pay their broadband bill or ISPs suddenly stop receiving RDOF or other subsidies. Millions of people would likely lose their monthly billing discounts from Lifeline. USAC also has extensive audit powers, and it’s not clear that the FCC could insert itself into existing audits.

The only alternative to the above chaos would be if Congress quickly stepped in to provide some way to keep the USAC functions going. That sounds like a huge challenge in a lame duck session during the holidays. Stay tuned, because this could turn into something extremely messy.

Providers looking to put cell towers in space to reach rural roads

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The Hill reports...

In a recent report, the Federal Communications Commission revealed a worrisome paradox in America’s cellular networks: they reach nearly everyone, but not nearly everywhere. While 95 percent of the U.S. population can receive 5G service from at least one carrier, only 69 percent of the nation’s road miles and 39 percent of its land area have such coverage. In rural America, the numbers fall to 60 percent and 38 percent.

This is the rural-mobile divide. It is not about whether a household can obtain broadband at home. It is about losing mobile service while driving, farming, hiking, fighting a wildfire or responding to an emergency.

The conventional solution is to build more cell towers. Some are still needed. But extending terrestrial networks to every remote road, ravine and mountaintop would be economically irrational. The FCC has approved a plan to provide up to $9 billion to close the remaining gaps in America’s 5G cellular networks. But instead of treating every dead zone as a construction problem, we should consider whether the last cell towers should instead be placed in orbit.

Technology advances now offer a promising alternative to cover this last and most expensive frontier. Direct-to-device satellite service allows an ordinary compatible cellphone to connect directly to a satellite when no terrestrial tower is available. The satellite effectively becomes a cell tower in space. No satellite phone, dish or other specialized equipment is required.

All three national carriers see satellites becoming an integral part of mobile networks.

EVENT Nov 5: AI and data centers talk, Q&A in Winona

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Winona Post reports…

AI has changed the world, and none of us know quite how it will impact us. It creates immense opportunity and could solve many of our problems, but it also poses great risks. From data centers, to students cheating in school, to job loss and existential risk, AI has created many more questions than answers. Mark York will discuss how the technology works, its risks, and what our communities should do to get the good without the bad. Bring your questions, and let’s work together to get a handle on this thorny issue. All are welcome.

Mark York is a farmer from Lake Wilson in southwest Minnesota, a computer scientist, and former White House Fellow. Mark is a proud SDSU grad, is the co-founder and president of FarmYield Africa, and is about to complete his Ph.D. in computer science from Harvard University.

This event will be held on Thursday, November 5, at 7 p.m. at the American Legion, 302 East Sarnia Street, in Winona. Goodwill donation suggested. It will be hosted by the Winona Area Southeast Minnesota Patriots.

Data centers come up in debates in Minnesota House 45A (DFLer Tracey Breazeale and Republican state Rep. Andrew Myers)

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Hartland Signal reports…

Home to the suburbs surrounding Lake Minnetonka, and one of the wealthiest regions of the state, House District 45A may seem like a long shot for Democrats. But the region has flipped back and forth between parties in recent years and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party holds two of the other legislative seats in the area. So why not all three?

These were the stakes at a candidates forum late last month for DFLer Tracey Breazeale and incumbent Republican state Rep. Andrew Myers. During the forum, they argued pocketbook issues like health care and housing as well as data centers.

On data centers…

Breazeale and Myers expressed similar worries about the impact of data centers in their district.

Breazeale said she was concerned over how data centers will impact local energy supplies and water infrastructure.

“I think this is an area where we want to get out ahead of it,” she said. “We want the state to be able to think about what types of legislation can we put in place to make sure that data centers are not impacting local water, that they have to find their own cooling systems, that they supply their own renewable energy and that that’s done in a way that is not negatively impacting the residents.”

Myers added, “We would like to have a little bit more knowledge, information. What’s the energy consumption going to look like? What’s the water use going to look like? And we don’t want that to impact utility costs in our own community.”

Data centers are the only local businesses looking to benefit from data center industry in Minnesota

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MN Star Tribune reports..

Graco has signed a licensing deal with a Swiss company to use its special motors to help cool data centers.

The Minneapolis-based manufacturer announced Wednesday that it signed a deal with ABB, an international electrification and automation company, to supply devices called transverse flux motors (TFM) from a company Graco acquired in 2018.

Graco and Zurich-based ABB have partnered on other industrial applications. This deal will give Graco additional exposure into one of the fastest-growing industrial applications in the rapid build out of datacenters.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Graco is not the only Twin Cities company chasing the data center business. NVent has expanded its local factories because of its contracts, and 3M, Ecolab and Forgent Power also have large data-center businesses.