New Toolkit Unveiled to Aid Minnesota Cities in Evaluating Data Center Proposals

Researchers at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with the Freshwater Society, released a publicly-available guide designed to help local officials weigh the advantages and disadvantages of large-scale data center projects. The guide, presented at a recent workshop in Rochester, offers fact-based sections on energy and water impacts, sample regulatory language, and a set-by-step list of questions for city leaders to use when a tech company approaches them.

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)

Opposition to massive data center proposals has intensified in towns such as Pine Island, where a Google project sparked a split between supporters and opponents. Officials in nearby Byron, Stewartville and Lewiston began discussing how to respond with facts rather than emotion. The southeast Minnesota region sits on karst rock, creating porous aquifers that move water differently from other parts of the state. This geology makes water use by a single data center a potential concern for neighboring communities, linking local decisions to regional environmental outcomes.

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)

Elise Harrington, a public affairs professor who led the toolkit project, described the effort as “proactively addressing a data center” before proposals arrive. Andi Sutton, executive director of the Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, emphasized that data center impacts cross municipal borders and that early, collaborative conversations are essential for protecting shared water resources. City administrators such as Al Roder (Byron) and Greg Krushke (Owatonna) expressed that the guide will help them embed pre-emptive rules into zoning codes and learn from peer experiences.

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)

• “We just started having a conversation about data centers and how do we answer all these questions with facts instead of emotions?” — Al Roder

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)

• “These are rules that we decided before we were in the heat of battle,” — Al Roder

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)

• “What are they learning from others, and how can we be able to apply some of this and be able to use it to help ourselves and our neighbors?” — Greg Krushke

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)

• “It means that the way that water moves through our region is different from other parts of Minnesota,” — Andi Sutton

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)

• “All of these questions get pushed to their limits by data centers as a development opportunity,” — Andi Sutton

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)