Data centers have been an increasingly hot topic for the last year and more. I’ve posted informational articles, events (announcements and notes), decisions and counter decisions. People are learning more. There seem to be few absolutes but a wide range of opinions and levels of passion. I think it’s valuable to look at all sides because each community and each proposal is unique. In that spirit, I have been collecting editorials that have crossed my transom with minimal curation in the last month to share with readers in chronological order.

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.

Letter to the Editor: Stop the data center
Jul 17 2026, Cannon Falls Beacon
“This is not a Red hat vs Blue hat issue. This is an economic and environmental issue. Data Centers have proven to be horrible neighbors, taking far, far more than they give communities. Big Tech is fully aware of that, too, which is why they come in so stealthily with high pressure, manipulative campaigns that promise way more than they ever deliver.”

T. Matthew Robinson-Aguirre letter: Data centers are the litmus test for local elections
July 18, 2026 West Central Tribune
“The letter author writes of his opposition to any data center in Kandiyohi County.”

Port: Regulatory filings show Ellendale data center benefited power customers by over $38.4M
July 20, 2026, InForum
“The opponents of data centers want us to believe that there is no way to build them responsibly. That is demonstrably untrue.”

In Response: Arguments for data centers don’t stand up in Hermantown – Duluth News Tribune
July 23, 206, Duluth News Tribune
From the column: “Iron Range development officials ought to be begging for data centers to reuse … abandoned mine operations.”

COMMENTARY: 8 Claims You’re Hearing About Hyperscale Data Center Proposals, and What We Know Right Now
July 24, 2026, Minnesota Women’s Press
From Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy

Letter: Tech investments create good jobs
July 25, 2026Post Bulletin
The writer is regulatory affairs coordinator for IUOE Local 49.

Minnesota can’t afford to turn away infrastructure of the future
July 26, 2026, Worthington Globe
Opinion by Doug Loon, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, and Tom Dicklich, Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council executive director

National View: Expect more data center moratoriums — and slower growth
July 30, 2026, Duluth News Tribune
From the column: “Some people are even willing to forgo a cure for cancer to slow down AI.”

Column: Data center explosion needs human deliberation
July 30, 2026 Hometown Sources
From the column:  “Every city and county in Minnesota should give this issue a lot of thought, as the possibility that it could land in your lap someday soon is quite real.”

Reader’s View: Resist data centers by getting offline
Aug 5, 2026 Duluth News Tribune
But this convenience has created in us an intolerance to ever being inconvenienced

In Response: Environmental review isn’t obstruction — it’s the law
Aug 7, 2026 Duluth News Tribune
From the column: “Hyperscale data center proposals continue to make the mistake of trying to shortcircuit our environmental laws and deny our residents their right to have a meaningful say.”

Letter: Don’t overlook air pollution from data centers
Aug 8, 2026, Post Bulletin Rochester
From the letter: “Air pollution can travel hundreds of miles — look no further than the recent Boundary Waters smoke.”

Letter: Embrace economic opportunity of data centers
Aug 11, 2026, Post Bulletin
The writer is a member of Local 1382 of the Mid-America Regional Council of Carpenters.

Chisago County Commissioners vote to impose a one-year moratorium on applications
Aug 13, 2026, St Paul Pioneer Press
“Whatever the fate of data centers, such steps will only accelerate American spacefaring and innovation. There’s little to lose and a universe to gain.”

Darlene Kotelnicki letter: Thank you for your data center concerns letter
Aug 16 2026, West Central Tribune
“I currently sit on the Litchfield City Council and requested this topic be put on our agenda recently.”

Minnesota Opinion: With updates, NewRange mine a better project
Aug 17, 2026, West Central Tribune
From the editorial: “Minnesota’s environmental review and permitting process (is) working as intended — allowing science, engineering, and public input to refine a project as new information emerges.”

KAXE reports…

The city of Bemidji is contemplating a one-year moratorium on data centers, months after inaccurate reports claiming a project was underway there.

As Big Tech rolls out plans to build enormous data center complexes in Minnesota, like Google in Hermantown and Meta in Rosemount, at least a dozen local governments have pumped the brakes on new development via moratoriums.

Large scale data centers in other parts of the country, such as northern Virginia and Arizona, have come under public scrutiny over their local impacts. Some data center campuses cover hundreds or thousands of acres. Local residents often point to the data centers’ high consumption of electricity and water as the underlying cause of their increased electric and water bills for their homes and businesses.

Bemidji Assistant Planning Director Melissa Fahrenbruch said Monday, Aug. 10, that no developer has yet approached the city for a data center.

But she said a pause on the development of any data centers or cryptomining facilities would allow staff time to update the city’s planning and zoning codes.

There’s a decision to decide…

While no formal action was taken in Monday’s Planning Board meeting, members agreed to vote on a moratorium in September.

Info on upcoming meetings…

To the east, Carlton County is slated to host a public hearing on its proposed data center moratorium on Monday, Aug. 24.

The Bemidji Planning Board typically meets on the second Monday of the month and is slated to reconvene at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 14.

Chisago County Press reports...

The other public hearing that was scheduled for the Board meeting was about data centers, or high utility use developments.  The Board voted to impose a one year moratorium on applications.

Data centers need to be defined and conditions need to be drafted and reviewed to control possible negative effects.

Assistant County Attorney Jeffrey Fuge explained the moratorium is not hand-cuffed to being one year in length,  and at any time the county planning commission arrives at a well-worded ordinance it wishes to recommend, the commissioners can convene a public hearing.

The county planning commission will take the lead on writing ordinance language that will specifically address high utility use projects.  This effort addresses only the areas of the county where the county has zoning jurisdiction.

Hometown Source reports…

After months of questions, speculation and debate, Monticello residents are getting their clearest view yet at what a proposed data center campus south of the city could eventually become.

A revised application submitted by Monticello Tech on Aug. 3 doesn’t answer every question. The developer still has not identified the company that would ultimately operate the campus, and many details — from building architecture to electrical demand and emergency backup systems — won’t be finalized until later in the approval process.

But compared with the original application submitted July 6 — one city staff deemed incomplete later that month — the revised submission paints a far more detailed picture of the proposed development.

The City must determine whether the application is complete…

The city has 15 business days from receiving the Aug. 3 submission — until Friday, Aug. 21 — to determine whether the application contains all of the information required under its recently adopted Data Center Planned Unit Development ordinance.

The article proceeds to shar details on the project and potential impacts on the community. It also provides a quick look at the numbers…

Monticello Tech by the numbers

547 acres — Approximate total project area

364 acres — Approximate developable area

3 million square feet — Maximum data center development allowed under the proposal

2 million square feet — Conceptual development scenario used for many current planning calculations

Up to 8 — Potential principal data center buildings

75,000 gallons per day — Estimated average water use, roughly equivalent to the daily water use of 273 households

$73.5 million — Current estimated infrastructure cost

$300 million — Developer’s estimated taxable value at 2 million square feet

$7 million per year — Developer’s projected annual property taxes at that buildout

4-8 years — Estimated campus buildout period

2028 — Earliest projected start of construction

2030 — Projected substantial completion of the first phase

KSTP Eyewitness News reports…

A legal fight over a data center could cost Inver Grove Heights residents millions if the city loses.

The city is being sued by a data center company that submitted its application and said it was in good standing with the city before the Inver Grove Heights City Council approved a one-year moratorium on data centers.

City leaders learned Monday night that losing the lawsuit could cost $20 million — Mayor Brenda Dietrich put that figure into perspective, noting that taxpayers would be footing the bill.

“A resident’s city taxes would go from $1,833 to $3,053, which is an annual increase of $1,220 or 67%. So, just framing that up in real dollar amounts,” said Dietrich.
A city lawyer said Monday the lawsuit would be dropped if the city excludes Q’Levr from that recently passed one-year data center moratorium. Q’Levr wants to build a 54-thousand-square-foot facility at the former Travel Tags building along Carmen Avenue East.
The council voted to change the moratorium to exclude the company, but there are still two more readings before a final vote.

The city is asking for input…

As it sits now, the city is asking people to send written comments. The mayor and council would have to add a public hearing as the process moves forward, and at least two council members supported that Monday night.