The MN Star Tribune reports…

As opposition to data centers swells across the state, this southern Minnesota city is getting a boost from the race to build them.

Rolls-Royce has invested $24 million to expand the Mankato factory where it builds generators used in data centers, hospitals and airports.

The expansion includes a 250,000‑square‑foot logistics center at its main plant in Mankato just north of Highway 14 and the promise of 100 new jobs. The company is investing $4.5 million at another site in Mankato that also produces generators.

The expansion by Rolls-Royce, a British manufacturer and military contractor that separated from the similarly named luxury car brand in 1973, is part of a bid to profit from the rise of the data center industry, which is hungry for electricity and relies on generators as backstops during power outages.

Companies across Minnesota are capitalizing on the rapid growth in data centers, even as many cities and counties are hitting the brakes on their development in the state. Mankato is considering its own moratorium on data centers at a City Council meeting Monday.