CNBC reports on Google’s response to public concerns about having a data center in their community…

Now Google is betting that a massive AI data center can help finance a cleaner, more reliable power grid. Its proposed deal with Xcel Energy would add more wind, solar and battery capacity than the data center is expected to use.

Under the agreement, Google would help pay for the added capacity and continue paying, even if it doesn’t use all of the power.

Pine Island, Minnesota, is a small town of about 4,000 residents an hour southeast of Minneapolis. Google hopes that its new 780-megawatt data center plan will build goodwill with the Pine Island community and keep the company on track to meet its goal of operating on carbon-free energy, 24 hours a day, seven days a week by 2030.

Google — whose cloud business powers its own Gemini AI and brought in nearly $25 billion in second-quarter revenue, an 82% increase from a year earlier — says it has found a model for doing this the right way. The company plans to finance the addition of 1,400 megawatts of wind, 200 megawatts of solar and 300 megawatts of battery storage to Xcel’s grid.

Those additions amount to more than the capacity of the data center itself, which Google said is because wind and solar do not generate energy at all times. Xcel Energy said the new power will serve all customers in the local area, not just Google. Xcel also said the upgrades will help advance the local grid’s carbon-free energy supply.

The proposed agreement between Google and Xcel includes minimum demand charges and exit fees, which Google says will keep the company on the hook for the infrastructure being built on its behalf, even if the AI boom cools. Google will pay for at least 75% of its contracted capacity, even if it uses less, and would owe up to eight years’ worth of those minimum demand charges if it terminates the agreement early.

The Center Square reports…

Companies operating data centers should be the ones that pay for upgrades to the electric grid, most voters say  according to a new poll.

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll found that 66% of voters believe that data center companies should be paying for the increased power demand and infrastructure required to get that electricity to the data centers.

Fourteen percent of those registered to vote say the costs of the upgrades should be shared by both data center companies and the public while 8% believe the upgrades are the responsibility of federal, state or local taxpayers and 6% believe that all electricity customers should pay for the upgrades. Another 6% said they were unsure who should pay.

The results come from a survey conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from Oct. 5-7 that polled registered voters nationally via opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages. The sample included 2,527 respondents comprised of 1,011 Republicans, 1,011 Democrats, and 505 Independents. Among independent voters, 220 respondents were classified as true independents, which are individuals who do not lean toward either major party when given the choice. The margin of error is +/- 1.95%.

St Cloud Live reports...

The St. Cloud City Council will have the chance to approve an ordinance that would place restrictions on the location, design and water usage of new hyperscale data centers during its meeting on Monday, Oct. 19.

If approved, hyperscale data centers would be required to use the city’s water system and must be at least 1,320 feet away from abutting road right-of-ways and residential zoned properties as measured from property line to property line. Permits for all data centers would require land use compatibility and traffic impact study, noise and vibration study, environmental impact study, and community impacts study.

All proposed data centers would also have to come with confirmation that sustainable energy use, water use and designs will be incorporated into the project. A decommissioning plan would also be needed.

The ordinance divides data centers into two groups: hyperscale data centers and on-site enterprise data centers. On-site enterprise data centers are defined as having 2,000 or fewer servers, taking up at most 10,000 square feet and using at most 50 megawatts of energy. Any data center above those limits is classified as a hyperscale data center.

The ordinance comes straight from the St. Cloud Planning Commission, which delayed a vote on a data center ordinance in September because members didn’t believe they had enough information about data centers and their community impacts. The commission then advanced this current ordinance on Tuesday, Oct. 13, in a 4-2 vote.

Marketplace APM reports…

Hyperscaler data centers have just arrived in Minnesota, but they’ve already sparked a major debate. With these projects turning into a midterm election issue, local residents are split — some are worried about tanking property values, while others think the facilities could bring a much-needed boost in jobs.

The World Resources Institute reports…

This article explores these policy levers, highlights emerging practices from communities across the U.S. and offers practical considerations based on WRI’s ongoing technical assistance to local governments. Together, these levers can shape where data centers are built, how they operate and whether their energy demand supports or undermines broader community goals.

Here are the six policy levers…

1. Lever 1: Use Zoning to Guide Where Data Centers Are Built
2. Lever 2: Establish Clear Requirements Through Permitting
3. Lever 3: Increase Transparency Through Energy Disclosure and Monitoring
4. Lever 4: Shape How Facilities Are Designed and Powered
5. Lever 5: Remove Barriers to Clean Energy and Storage
6. Lever 6: Align Private Investment with Public Priorities

Minnesota gets on nod in relation to Lever 4…

Data center design is a primary determinant of energy use and environmental impact. Key considerations include building and IT equipment efficiency, cooling systems, backup power and opportunities for heat recovery and reuse.

Local governments can encourage more sustainable design through permitting requirements, development incentives and sustainability standards. Some jurisdictions, like Lake County, Indiana, require an energy efficiency plan demonstrating how facilities will conserve energy and use renewable energy resources for permit approval. Jurisdictions can also require or incentivize certification under recognized sustainability programs such as LEED for data centers, Green Globes for Data Centers and BREEAM. Minnesota recently enacted legislation requiring just this.

MinneapoliMedia reports…

Minneapolis is moving closer to adopting its first zoning regulations specifically designed for modern data centers after the City Planning Commission advanced a proposal Tuesday evening that would restrict where the facilities could operate, limit their size and impose additional conditions intended to protect surrounding neighborhoods.

The October 13 action comes as the city approaches a November 21 deadline, when a six-month moratorium on certain new data center developments is scheduled to expire.

The proposal represents a significant shift from the city’s existing zoning framework, which does not separately classify modern data centers and instead generally treats them as communication exchanges.

That older classification has allowed such facilities to be considered in numerous zoning districts without standards specifically addressing their electricity consumption, cooling systems, backup generators and other operational characteristics.

They look at four types of changes to the rules…

• Commissioners Reduce Proposed Server-Space Limit
• Additional Zoning Review Introduced
• Data Centers Would Be Restricted to Two Downtown Districts
• Building Design Rules Aim to Reduce Neighborhood Impacts

Next steps…

The proposal is expected to proceed to the City Council’s Business, Housing and Zoning Committee in early November.

The committee’s consideration is scheduled for November 6, according to the hearing account, while the full City Council is expected to consider the ordinance November 12.

Those dates place the council’s anticipated decision only days before the November 21 moratorium expiration.

KTTC reports...

Voters in Harmony packed the community center Tuesday evening to question their mayoral candidates and hear how each one plans to tackle local issues.

The forum hosted by the Filmore County League of Women Voters featured candidates current Mayor Steve Donney, Kerry Kingsley, owner of Kingsley Mercantile, and Harmony Public Library assistant Sue Olinger.

During the hour-long forum, the candidates covered a wide range of topics, answering questions on everything from election security in Fillmore County to how to maintain strong emergency services in small towns.
The issue that drew the most attention was the city’s current data center ordinance. Candidates were pressed on where they stand, where they’re getting their information, potential incentives from developers, and what, if anything, might make them change their position. …
Harmony’s current data center ordinance is set to go in front of the planning and zoning committee at a special meeting on October 28 with a public hearing.