A restraining order has halted construction on Google’s proposed data center in Pine Island, but supporters of the project are continuing to make their case to the business community.
The Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce hosted an information session Wednesday for several dozen business leaders from across the region. The event, located at the Mayo Civic Center, featured a panel of representatives from Ryan Companies, Google, Xcel Energy, and the Pine Island City Council. They answered questions from the chamber and audience about the project, known as Project Skyway.
Sounds like it was business-focused…
The session covered economic, energy, and environmental questions surrounding the project. The city has said the development would direct millions of dollars toward the community and local schools.
With no representation from another view…
However, for a project that has faced significant community pushback, Dokken noted the session lacked an opposing voice.
The Post Bulletin also described the meeting…
Thursday’s info session sponsored by the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce was billed as an opportunity to set the record straight on the highly contentious issue of data centers.
And it brought together a rare assemblage of representatives from Google, Xcel Energy, the Pine Island government and Ryan Companies all in the same public space. All are major players are in the data center project in Pine Island.
The project is currently on hold after a Goodhue County District judge issued a temporary restraining order halting construction. The lawsuit was brought by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, a nonprofit that is seeking a stronger environmental review of the project.
During the hour-long discussion, panelists highlighted how the “spread of misinformation” has made it difficult to keep the community informed about the project. Open houses have helped get the word out, but their impact hasn’t always been lasting.
Project developers held two public open houses during an eight-month approval process, and feedback from those sessions was used to adjust planning documents, said Jared Olson, vice president of site design for Ryan Companies, the developer behind the Project Skyway data center project.
Here are some earlier stories on the project:
- Uncertainty in Pine Island as data center debate continues (June 18, 2026, KTTC)
- Judges pause Faribault, Pine Island data centers as emotions fill city council chambers (June 18, 2026)
- Judge halts construction of Pine Island’s hyperscale data center (May 26, 2026 MPR)
- Pine Island City Council walks out of meeting as tensions rise over data center (April 21, 2026 KTTC)
- Counterpoint: Pine Island data center project is far from a gold standard (April 2, 2026, MinnPost)
- The Pine Island blueprint: How Minnesota is setting the standard for data centers (Mar 26, 2026 MinnPost)
- Google revealed as tenant for massive Pine Island data center project (Feb 24, 2026, MPR)