Minnesota Data Center Intel

Recent Minnesota data center news

• Sep 9, 2026

  Google to buy energy from solar-storage project at former coal mine

  Google has announced that it will purchase the energy, capacity and clean energy attributes from MN8 Energy’s Mammoth Solar project in West Virginia, with Eos Energy Enterprises supplying zinc-based long-duration storage.

  • The project includes 86 MW of utility-scale solar, 10 MW/100 MWh of zinc-based storage, and 70 MW/280 MWh of lithium-ion storage; solar is expected online in 2028, with storage in 2029 and 2030.
  • The release says the project is designed to match clean energy capacity with Google’s regional data center load profiles and add capacity in the PJM region; it also references a separate Google-backed 300 MW/30 GWh iron-air battery project in Minnesota.
• Sep 8, 2026

  Verizon, Corning Ink Multibillion-Dollar Fiber Deal

  Corning has announced a multibillion-dollar fiber supply deal with Verizon running from 2027 through 2032.

  • Verizon said the agreement will support its plan to expand its fiber footprint to 40-50 million passings and to access more than 80 million miles of fiber.
  • The companies did not disclose the exact dollar amount or other terms; the article also notes similar fiber deals involving Amazon, Meta ($6 billion in January), and NVIDIA ($500 million in May), plus a supply crunch tied to BEAD domestic manufacturing rules.
• Aug 28, 2026

  Roundup: Femme Executive Health / Vintage fest / Microsoft employee concerns

  Microsoft has addressed employee concerns about the environmental and community impacts of its expanding data center network.

  • The company said AI growth has made its emissions goals harder to meet, and it is highlighting energy efficiency, water-use improvements, and plans for up to 40 gigawatts of renewable power.
  • The article says Microsoft’s emissions rose 25% in 2025 amid data center expansion, and that the company is facing growing opposition to data centers; this is presented as a recent response, not a first-time project announcement.
• Aug 27, 2026

  Pass the Salt: A Sodium-Iron Battery Breakthrough

  Inlyte Energy discussed its sodium-iron battery technology and announced the shipping of its first battery pack to Southern Company’s Wilsonville, Alabama energy storage facility.

  • The company said it is shipping its first utility-scale pilot: a 1-megawatt-hour battery for Southern Company, with commissioning expected in the next couple months at the Wilsonville, Alabama test site.
  • Antonio Baclig said Inlyte acquired Beta Research in 2022, produces cells in the UK near Derby, and is using iron powder and food-grade table salt to enable safer, lower-cost batteries for grid-scale and data center use.
  • Baclig added the system can provide 24 to 48 to 72-hour backup for data centers, may fit a 3-megawatt, 24-hour duration backup on a diesel pad, and benefits from U.S. battery tax incentives supporting domestic manufacturing.
• Aug 26, 2026

  Facilities betting big on low-cost, 100-hour iron-air batteries

  Form Energy has announced a $750 million capital infusion and said the proceeds will accelerate manufacturing scale-up.

  • The company said the financing brings total capital raised to $2 billion since its 2017 launch, and will help scale its manufacturing facility in Weirton, West Virginia.
  • Form Energy is also working with Google and Xcel Energy on a project in Pine Island, Minnesota to supply 300 MW of battery capacity and 30 GWh of storage; the article notes this could be the world’s largest battery and that Form has an 80 GWh order backlog including projects tied to Crusoe and FuturEnergy Ireland.
• Aug 26, 2026

  How Data Center Controversies Have Transformed the Midterm Elections

  The Associated Press has published an analysis of the growing political opposition to U.S. data centers and how it is reshaping policy debates. It is commentary and reporting on a broader trend, not a first-time corporate announcement.

  • The article says Oracle, Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft expect to spend more than $700 billion on U.S. data centers this year, while OpenAI and Oracle are building Project Jupiter, a $165 billion complex near the Mexican border in New Mexico.
  • It also notes opposition over water use, electricity costs, and climate impacts; examples include a challenge to well drilling permits in New Mexico, a one-year ban on large data centers in New York, and tougher regulatory steps in Texas under Greg Abbott.
• Aug 12, 2026

  Bloomberg NEF: Texas grid pause puts 20 percent of US data center pipeline at risk

  Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed a comprehensive audit of all data center projects advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection process, following a pause on new data center grid interconnections. - The audit instructs the PUCT and ERCOT to assess whether data centers pay their own way, provide their own power or rely on the grid, bring their own water or reuse water, mitigate impacts on neighbors, and disclose ownership and controlling interests. - Bloomberg NEF says the pause could affect about 49.8 GW of projects, with potential financial impact of upwards of $8 billion by Q1 2027; ERCOT has more than 470 GW of interconnection requests, about 90% tied to data center load, and expects 8.25 GW of new data center capacity online by 2030. This article is commentary/analysis referencing Abbott’s earlier-month directive and related policy developments, not a first-time primary announcement from the named entities.

• Aug 4, 2026

  Data Center Jobs: Engineering, Construction, Commissioning, Sales, Field Service and Facility Tech Jobs Available in Major Data Center Hotspots

  Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Pkaza, has posted a roundup of current data center job opportunities on the Data Center Frontier jobs board.

  • The article highlights multiple roles including CFD Engineer, Electrical Commissioning Agent, Critical Power Sales Associate, Architect, Electrical Project Manager, Commissioning Project Manager, Owner’s Rep - Construction Cost Controls Director, Project Executive, Data Center Construction Project Manager, Mechanical Commissioning Engineer, Mechanical Controls Engineer, Critical Facilities Systems Manager, Principal Electrical Engineer, and Director of Project Deliverables.
  • Listings span remote and on-site roles across the United States, with repeated references to enterprise, colocation, hyperscale, and mission-critical data center facilities; no compensation or investment figures are provided.
• Jul 31, 2026

  Data center developer eyes disused newpaper printing plant

  The Minnesota Star Tribune has sold its shuttered North Loop printing plant in Minneapolis to Legacy Investing, which plans to convert the site into a data center.

  • Legacy Investing bought the former Star Tribune printing plant on the edge of Minneapolis and plans a new data center there.
  • This is Legacy’s second such redevelopment; it previously turned a downtown Minneapolis building into a data center for artificial intelligence and cloud computing, with capacity of about 30 MW, while the new site is expected to host around 20 MW of data center equipment.
• Jul 30, 2026

  Top House Democrat Attacks Musk over Gas-Powered Data Centers in Tennessee, Mississippi

  Rep. Frank Pallone has sent a July 28 letter to Elon Musk warning that SpaceXAI’s Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 data centers may pose pollution risks in Tennessee and Mississippi.

  • Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the rapid spread of AI facilities is straining local infrastructure and alarming residents.
  • The article references a July 28 letter and describes community concerns over the pace of giant data centers being built in local neighborhoods.