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Category Archives: Broadband Applications

Data center supporters in Pine Island ask MCEA to drop its lawsuit (Rice County)

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Post Bulletin reports...

A letter to the environmental advocacy group states, “Your lawsuit is an unasked for disruption of our democratic process that threatens many amazing benefits for our city, school, county and state,”

A group of data center supporters is asking a Twin Cities environmental group to get out of Pine Island’s business.

A letter sent to the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy — the St. Paul-based group that is suing both the city of Pine Island and developer Ryan Companies, LLC, over the proposed data center in Pine Island — “respectfully request that you drop the lawsuit so that partnerships between Pine Island, Google and Ryan Companies can move forward.”
The letter, addressed to MCEA Executive Director Kathryn Hoffman, has been signed by 183 “residents, business leaders and educators” from Pine Island.

You can read more on the lawsuit in an earlier post.

EVENT Sep 30: Eagan community session and online survey on data centers (Dakota County)

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St Paul Pioneer Press reports…

If you live or work in Eagan and you have thoughts on data centers, the city wants to hear from you.

The city of Eagan is hosting a community input session Wednesday where community members are invited to weigh in on data center development as the city considers future regulations.

The drop-in event, called the Data Center Ordinance Community Input Session, comes seven months into the city’s one-year moratorium on data center development.

The moratorium, enacted in February, halted development of any new data center that would use more than 20 megawatts of electricity, and upgrades to existing data centers above 9 megawatts, in addition to any proposed centers within 500 feet of residential homes.

More information…

Instead of a presentation, participants are invited on Wednesday to move through several stations and share their thoughts, questions and potential impacts that should be considered. City staff will be available to collect comments and capture questions and perspectives, according to the city.

For those unable to attend, or those who prefer to share their thoughts online, the city has launched a Data Center Community Survey.

The survey, which expires Nov. 1, asks a handful of questions including, “If the City adopts data center regulations, what do you think Eagan’s regulations should try to accomplish?” and “What questions do you think the City should answer before deciding what regulations are appropriate for data centers?”

The details:

Eagan Data Center Ordinance Community Input Session

When: 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30

Where: Eagan City Hall, 3830 Pilot Knob Road, Eagan

Survey: https://shorturl.at/30GF9

Faribault city council candidates talk data center (Rice County)

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Faribault Daily News reports on a candidate forum between City Council candidates Paul Wunderlich, John Rowan, and Katie Howard…

All three city council candidates present during Wednesday night’s candidate forum at Harvest Church said they did not support the Archer data center development, while two said they use artificial intelligence daily. Other topics of conversation included the difficulty in keeping tax levies low, and whether Faribault should loosen density regulations and embrace smaller homes.

A crowd of elected officials, candidates, and about 8 members of the public gathered to hear what candidates Paul Wunderlich, Councilor John Rowan, and Katie Howard had to say. Candidates Natalie Halverson, Lexi Temple and Kameron Gustafson had scheduling issues and could not attend, organizer Linda Cross said.

The article outlines their various views, including the following…

All three candidates said they opposed the Archer data center, but acknowledged it was too late to just say no to it. Howard said she, Wunderlich, and Jacob Reed, who did not advance past the primary election, worked to develop a plan of what regulations and limits they’d like to see for any data center development coming into Faribault. …

Rowan, the only incumbent in the race, said in his introduction that he was not on council when the data center was initially approved. Rowan called the developer a speculator, saying the ultimate goal was to flip the data center to a buyer to make an easy profit. That process is already in motion, he said. …

Wunderlich agreed with Rowan and said he believed the developer was treating Faribault as a commodity, not a town. He was also concerned with the current council’s plan to vote on datacenter standards in November. Wunderlich said he was concerned the standards would not go far enough.

Winona County Board considers temporary data center ban

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Winona Post reports…

As communities across the country debate how to address the rise of AI and the data centers that back the technology, the Winona County Board earlier this month took its first step toward analyzing whether to block or allow data centers in this area. The board voted unanimously for the Planning Commission to study the issue and consider a moratorium of up to one year.

Winona County Planning and Environmental Services Director Ross Dunsmoor highlighted at the County Board’s September 9 meeting some concerns that have come up nationwide about data centers, from their use of water, electricity, and land, to the noise they generate. On the other hand, he also said some municipalities have received investments in their infrastructure from data center developers.

Dunsmoor explained that locally, under current zoning regulations, the county would only allow data centers in general industry zones. However, he added that townships control the zoning regulations for a number of these areas, leaving just one zone subject to the county — New Hartford Township.

The article highlights diverse opinions from Commissioners. And mentioned plans…

The Planning Commission will next study a potential moratorium. Community members will then have a chance to provide input during a public hearing, Dunsmoor explained, and then the County Board will discuss the topic again.

Federal government steps in with potential data center legislation but Minnesota legislation already covers it

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Alexandria Echo Press reports…

 While national discourse swirls around rapidly evolving AI and hyperscale data centers, Minnesota’s elected officials have been working on safety and regulatory interventions at all levels of government.

Just before adjourning for break, the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed the “Ratepayer Protection Act,” which would require states to consider implementing a standard requiring certain “large-load” customers, such as data centers, to cover the electricity costs associated with their projects.

The federal legislation is not likely to make much of a difference for Minnesotans, as the state already passed a standalone data center bill in 2025 that requires the hyperscale facilities to cover new electricity costs.

That requirement applies to the state’s first hyperscale data center in Rosemount, owned by Meta, which has not provided an update on when the facility would be operational. The City of Rosemount had previously said it would be complete by the end of summer.

Follow up on Castle Rock data center lawsuit dismissal (Dakota County)

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Hometown Source reports…

Castle Rock Township’s lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice in Dakota County District Court, according to a stipulation order, on Sept. 15 against the city of Farmington, MNLCO Farmington LLC and Farmington School District 192.

The lawsuit filed in February 2025 claimed the city of Farmington violated the orderly annexation agreement when the Farmington City Council approved rezoning for a 2.5 million-square-foot data center concept.

The court said the township and the defendants each seek dismissal with prejudice, which means the case can’t be refiled in court.

The parties also agreed that the defendants will waive all costs, disbursements, and attorneys’ fees that the defendants would otherwise have sought to recover from the township.

It was reported last week that Castle Rock has been working on a settlement agreement with the defendants, but no further information has been released regarding terms from the township, the city or the Colorado-based data center concept developer Tract.

The article gives a nice history of activity related to the project.

Southeast Minnesota lawmakers listen as residents weigh regulations amid data center talk

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KTTC reports…

As talks for data centers continue to expand across Minnesota, communities in the southeast corner of the state are grappling with how to balance technological growth with local oversight.

On Thursday, DFL state lawmakers Sen. Liz Boldon and Rep. Tina Liebling hosted a virtual town hall to hear directly from Rochester-area constituents regarding potential policies and regulations surrounding large-scale data center facilities.

During the forum, residents raised concerns over data privacy, long-term environmental impacts, and skepticism regarding promised local economic benefits. Similar pushback has already placed a planned data center development in Pine Island on hold amid an ongoing lawsuit.

Lawmakers noted that the public’s unease is part of a broader national trend. A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that more than half of Americans believe data centers are mostly bad for the environment, while 6 in 10 respondents said they would not feel comfortable having a data center built in their own community.

They spoke about data center in past legislative sessions…

Over the past few legislative sessions, Minnesota lawmakers have taken steps to rein in industry incentives and impose stricter environmental guardrails. Recent legislation eliminated a $140 million state sales tax exemption on electricity for data centers and instituted requirements that facilities using more than 100 million gallons of water coordinate directly with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

They spoke about sticky issues…

Another major policy point under discussion is the prohibition of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in municipal negotiations with developers. Local governments are already moving in that direction; the city of Harmony included an NDA ban in the latest draft of its data center ordinance, which is currently before its planning and zoning committee.

EVENT Oct 1: Google to launch prototype satellite to test for possibility of an AI data center to outer space

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MSN reports…

The launch of a prototype satellite scheduled for next week will be through the company’s Project Suncatcher initiative.

As AI data centers are being built around the world at a growing pace, Google is looking to expand the trend in outer space starting next week.

Plans have been in the works…

The company first unveiled Project Suncatcher in an announcement last November, saying its goal is to launch two prototype satellites by early 2027 “that will test our hardware in orbit, laying the groundwork for a future era of massively-scaled computation in space.”

For its upcoming Oct. 1 launch into space, Google’s prototype satellite will be loaded onto a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, The New York Times reported. The company told the newspaper it is not sending a full data center but rather an experimental version of one.

In its blog post ahead of the scheduled launch, Google detailed the behind-the-scenes work for Project Suncatcher, such as testing whether its AI hardware can survive in space.

The plans are long term..

In describing his company’s expectations for the prototype satellite, James Manyika, Google’s senior vice president, told the Times, adding, “We don’t expect, to be perfectly frank, that we’ll have anything usefully operational in the next few years.” He compared that with Google’s earlier work on driverless cars, which took the company 15 years to research before anything came to fruition.

Governor Walz talks about Destination Medical Center and data centers in Rochester (Olmsted County)

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Post Bulletin reports…

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited Rochester on Wednesday, Sept. 23, to speak about Destination Medical Center and the years of public and private investments into the local economic development initiative.

Data centers came up…

When asked about AI innovation and guardrails, Walz said he sees the frustration around generative AI use and data center development as a communication issue.

“We’re going to have the resources, energy-wise, to be able to make sure prices don’t go up on folks, but the industry has done little to talk about that,” Walz said. “The frustration, I think, with the data centers is just a manifestation of the anxiety around AI in general.”

Walz said technology companies should communicate more with communities on what happens inside data centers and how that computing power is used.

“Make the connection to them,” Walz said, “that the data center is going to process the images … of that tumor in your child that is going to be taken out and cured.”

Woodbury approves moratorium on new data center (Washington County)

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Woodbury News Net reports…

Woodbury’s City Council approved a moratorium Sept. 23 on new data centers and expansion beyond existing approvals, giving the city up to a year to study water use, electricity demand, noise and possible zoning changes.

Before voting, council members worked through which changes would require new permits and which activities existing approvals already allowed.

Woodbury has no active applications or conversations with data center developers, City Planner Eric Searles said. The city intends to study the industry before another proposal arrives.

More on local data centers…

Before approval, council members broadened the restriction to cover building permits and other city permits, including electrical permits and permits for work in public rights of way.

The ordinance presented to the council blocks related rezoning proposals, comprehensive plan amendments, conditional use permits and variances, along with applications to establish or expand data centers. It also covers proposed water or sewer users whose annual consumption would place them among the city’s largest users. It takes effect upon adoption and publication and can end before a year if the city repeals it or adopts replacement regulations.

Woodbury’s three existing data centers include two IronGate facilities and a Medtronic facility at 515 Bielenberg Drive.

The city identified the three centers as similar or like uses and does not regulate them through conditional use or other zoning permits, but the future study could establish regulations and rules for permits that would affect existing facilities and future development.

At its existing Woodbury facilities, IronGate lists 15 megawatts of capacity for computing equipment at 401 Bielenberg Drive, its east campus, and 6 megawatts leased at 500 Bielenberg Drive, its west campus. The company describes both campuses as fully leased. Its website does not report either facility’s actual electricity use or capacity for future expansion.

Operators of the facility at 500 Bielenberg Drive had told the city they were at electrical capacity, although space remained available inside the building, Searles said. City officials did not provide exact electrical capacity figures for each facility at the meeting.

EVENT Sep 29: Monticello Tech LLC, data center developer, hosts meeting (Wright County)

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The Monticello Times reports…

Monticello Tech LLC, the developer proposing a large data center campus in Monticello, will hold a community open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, at River City Extreme, 3875 School Boulevard.

The event is being organized by the developer and is not a city-hosted public meeting. Representatives are expected to present information about the proposed development and answer questions from community members.

It will be the second open house hosted by the development team, following an event held at the same location in January.

Doors will open at 6 p.m., with the Monticello Tech presentation beginning at 6:15 p.m. A question-and-answer session will follow, along with small-group breakout sessions for additional questions.

The proposed campus would encompass up to 3 million square feet on land south of 85th Street Northeast and east of Highway 25.

The open house is free and open to the public. Appetizers, water and soda will be provided.

MN Letters to the editor on data centers (Aug 17-Sep 22, 2026): a look at the ranges of views

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This is the second in a growing series. As data centers have been an increasingly hot topic, I’ve posted informational articles, events (announcements and notes), decisions and counter decisions. In July, I began collecting editorials that crossed my transom with minimal curation to share with readers in chronological order. Again, this is the second edition in this roughly monthly series.

It’s meant as a quick scan of what topics are rising to the top for others. I will likely continue to collect and post in the future. I usually try to be balanced, but this is more illustrative of what crosses my path.

Port: Refocus the data center debate from hysteria to reality: They’re getting built
Aug 17, 2026 InFORUMN
Demand for data centers is being driven by our demand for digital services, including AI. Those who think we can stop their construction are kidding themselves.

Other View: Building data centers in space a crazy but great idea – Duluth News Tribune
Aug 21, 2026 Duluth News Tribune
From the editorial: “Orbital data centers may prove to be a completely irrational business venture. That’s no reason to oppose them.”

Letter: Debunking the case against a data center moratorium
Aug 22, 2026 InForumn
Carter Hass of Valley City writes about positives and negatives of data centers, not the politics.

Letter about Harmony data center…
Aug 24, 2026 Fillmore County Journal
“For Harmony, the central question is simple: What concrete economic benefit do local residents receive, and who carries the risk if the projections prove wrong?”

Letter: Data center comes at Pine Island’s expense
Aug 25, 2026, Post Bulletin
“Pine Island belongs to the people — not to Google.”

Other View: Secrecy a surefire way to lose public trust on data centers – Duluth News Tribune
Aug 26, 2026, Duluth News Tribune
From the editorial: “While NDAs aren’t unheard of in the public sector, using them to fuzzy up the details of a topic of such intense public interest is arguably never appropriate.

National View: Data-center moratoriums penalize public schools, taxpayers
Aug 31, 2026 Duluth News Tribune
From the column: “With two decades of data-center growth, Loudoun (County, Virginia) has maintained its pastoral character and remains a destination for many … who want good jobs and a better quality of life.”

Data centers, community growth, and looking ahead
Sep 3, 2026, Isanti-Chisago County Times
“At the same time, local communities have every right to ask questions.”

Letter: Look to the facts in data center disputes
Sep 3, 2026 Hometown Source
“Most of us use a data center every day without thinking about it.”

Data centers, cameras and AI
Sep 4, 2026, Pine County News
We all want the technology that helps make our lives easier and safer, but we need to consider the tradeoffs to our health, environment and civil liberties.

McFeely: Data center propaganda in full swing
Sep 7, 2026 InForum
Polling shows data centers increasingly unpopular, but ND Republicans and pundits don’t want to hear it

Data centers, cameras and AI
Sep 7, 2026, North Pine County News
“We all want the technology that helps make our lives easier and safer, but we need to consider the tradeoffs to our health, environment and civil liberties.”

Some Data Centers Are Good
September 08, 2026, Twin Cities Business
“There’s a way to win here, and it’s not by going the route of the moratoriums. We need to start by agreeing that some data centers are good.“

Opinion | Before a data center moves forward, Minneapolis must listen to the river
Sep 10, 2026, Minnesota Star Tribune
“We need to know how the proposed data center in the old Minnesota Star Tribune printing facility would impact the Mississippi River.”

Interim councilor says ‘don’t close your mind’ on data center discussion
Sep 11, 2026, Faribault Daily
“Anderson also warned about misinformation plaguing the conversation around data centers and thinks the community should dig deeper as it weighs the pros and cons.”

They Agreed, So I Read It Twice: The View from Up North
Sep 12, 2026, Minneapolis Times
“Lisa Demuth and Amy Klobuchar have found rare common ground on data centers: let communities decide, insist on transparency and make developers answer the hard questions.”

Data centers can be built responsibly
Sep 15, 2026, MinnPost
“We’re not having a full, balanced conversation about the risks and potential benefits of data centers in Minnesota.”

Ramstad: AI won’t kill us, and government won’t save us
Sep 16, 2026, MN Star Tribune
“Stop elevating AI executives as gods and expecting politicians to do things they don’t understand.”

MINNEAPOLIMEDIA EDITORIAL | Minnesota’s Data Center Boom Is Becoming a Test of Energy, Water and Local Democracy
Sep 17, 2026, MinneapoliMedia
The arrival of large data center proposals in Minnesota was initially presented as a straight economic development story… That framing is no longer adequate.

Artificial intelligence
Sep 17, 2026, Timberjay
Time to put the brakes on a technology with too many questions

Statewide View: Minnesota cannot afford to sit out data-center investments
Sep 19, 2026 Duluth News Tribune
From the column: “Prosperity comes from building things, attracting investment, and creating an environment where businesses want to grow.”

Cal Thomas: Will AI cause Doomsday in the world?
Sep 10, 2026, West Central Tribune
From the commentary, “AI should be taken seriously, but we probably need not panic as with so many other doomsday predictions.”

Candidate’s View: Vote for a legislator who knows how to protect public dollars
Sep 20, 2026, Duluth News Tribune
From the column: “My vote in the Minnesota Senate will belong to the people of Senate District 7 — not to any party, special interest, corporation, or political insider.”

Harmony Township considering a two-year moratorium for data center: more meetings planned (Fillmore County)

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InForum reports…

Harmony Township may enact a two-year moratorium that would halt Geronimo Power’s efforts to build a data center in the area.

Approximately 50 people gathered Tuesday morning, Sept. 22, at the Mapleton Community Center, including township leaders and residents. Other interested parties in attendance included representatives from Geronimo Power, a Minnesota-based energy company that is building a solar facility in the township and recently shared plans for more developments, including battery storage and a data center.

A common sentiment among the people who spoke up during the meeting’s public comment period was: “It’s moving too fast.”

Dustin Burchill — appointed to take Jim Nelson’s place as board chair after he stepped down — said residents filed a petition asking to be heard on why they feel a moratorium is appropriate.

Residents at Tuesday’s meeting shared concerns about tonal noise, decreased property values, water usage, road traffic, ability to farm organically, lack of study into wildlife impacts and lack of research as a whole on the impacts of data centers.

The topic got some traction…

Burchill made a motion, which passed unanimously, to hold a public hearing that would serve as a formal opportunity for people to comment on whether they think a moratorium is appropriate.

The language he used in his motion — which may not be the final language used — was for a two-year zoning moratorium for all industrial-scale development including solar, wind, data centers, battery storage systems, electric transmission lines and gas-fired electrical generation facilities “in order to update its zoning ordinances to further protect the township and its residents.”

The process will include special meetings as well as a recommendation by the zoning board, township supervisors told The Forum after the meeting adjourned.

The township’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 20. The date of the special meeting has not been determined.

State broadband offices (and some industry groups) are exhausted with BEAD

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Fierce Network reports...

According to interviews and research from the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, state broadband officers (SBOs) are exhausted by the challenges and shifting dynamics of implementing the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Leaders from the Benton Institute have interviewed over 30 SBOs, so far, about what it is taking to implement BEAD. And Dr. Ravati Prasad of the Benton Institute talked about the takeaways from those conversations in a recent Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) webinar.

“The people who are in charge of overseeing this work are feeling exhausted,” said Prasad. “It’s been a long haul, and more than one person said to us, ‘Just want to get it done.’ Their legislatures aren’t exactly hostile to broadband; their governors aren’t hostile to broadband. They’re just not particularly interested in talking about it anymore.”

The Minnesota Broadband Task Force has monthly meetings, where Bree Maki from the Office of Broadband Development gives an update. (See notes and video from September’s meeting.) She shares her experience working with limited and changing information from the funder and trying to manage expectations with the providers.

The providers are also feeling the pinch, as demonstrated by an industry group asking for changes to BEAD…

NRECA is urging the Trump administration to overhaul implementation of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program to ensure BEAD meets its statutory goal to connect every American home and business with reliable, high-speed internet.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced a new round of available BEAD funding on Sept. 3 that NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said continues the program’s “misguided” approach that could leave rural communities behind.

Google talks to Hermantown about data center improvements at public meeting (St Louis County)

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Nnorthern News Now reports…

Google representatives shared updates on its proposed data center in Hermantown Monday night including changes after the public raised environmental concerns.

A company spokesperson said they’ve acted on the public’s main concerns, hoping to reduce the impact on well water, trout streams, and wetlands.

“I want to again thank the public for their continued comments at past council meetings, at past open houses, at neighbor meetings, etc,” said Google Representative Liz Schwab. “It has certainly helped us to shape and improve the project.

Google says those actions include monitoring wells and reducing the impacts to wetlands by 37 percent.

The company is also creating a decommissioning agreement if the site becomes obsolete in the future.

As a part of their philanthropy efforts, Google will also be donating $2.5 million to local grants and nonprofits.

Some residents at the meeting say they shouldn’t have had to beg for Google to take action.

It sounds as if things have been getting heated in Hermantown. The meeting included a reminder of public decorum at meetings as well as mention of a preliminary report of its internal investigation, which was initiated after disparaging remarks of data center opponents were leaked and posted by the Duluth Monitor.

Fox21 reports…

The Duluth News Tribune and WDIO also covered the story.