Minnesota Data Center Intel

Recent Minnesota data center news

• Feb 5, 2026

  What’s up with data centers in Minnesota?

  Fresh Energy calls on Minnesota regulators and the Public Utilities Commission to adopt policies ensuring data center development benefits Minnesotans and aligns with the state’s 100% clean electricity by 2040 law.

  • Main announcement / action: Fresh Energy urges the Commission to implement better load forecasting, rate design (large-load tariffs), and transparency on water and behind-the-meter generation to ensure data centers pay their fair share; Minnesota currently has 13 operating data centers with 43 MW of capacity and 12 planned projects totaling 1,120 MW (as of January 2026). Key regulatory actions already in motion include Xcel Energy’s large-load tariff filed July 2025 and the Commission requiring Dakota Electric to file an additional tariff in December 2025.

  • Background and details: Fresh Energy cites national context such as data center investment growth from $13.8 billion to $41.2 billion per year and nearly 100 GW of proposed behind-the-meter gas plants nationwide; it recommends using IRP updates, stochastic/scenario-based forecasting, and tariff rate classes so utilities do not overbuild infrastructure or shift costs to residential customers.

• Jan 29, 2026

  Air pollution: A silent killer lurking in our skies

  The EPA has moved to stop including health benefits in cost-benefit analyses for pollution regulations.

  • Main action: The article reports that the EPA (under the Trump administration) plans to stop factoring health benefits into cost-benefit analyses for pollution rules, a policy change described as potentially weakening standards that have underpinned decades of air-quality gains (e.g., 37% reduction in PM2.5 and 18% decrease in ozone since 2000).
  • Context and details: The piece cites economic figures including $106.5 billion annual cost to China, $29 billion annual cost to the United States, and $350 million in annual economic benefits tied to reduced asthma inhaler use; it also highlights local concerns such as Denver’s fast-growing data center industry increasing power demand and the potential for more power plants held to lower pollution standards.
• Jan 27, 2026

  EPA Prioritizes Data Center Chemical Reviews Amid TSCA Debate

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a priority review lane to accelerate TSCA reviews for chemicals used in data centers.

  • Priority review lane established: EPA will prioritize review of new chemicals intended for use in data center projects or for manufacturing covered components; this aligns with the Sep 2025 Executive Order “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure.” Key dates: House Republicans released draft TSCA reform legislation on Jan 16, 2026, and House Energy and Commerce held hearings on Jan 22, 2026. Regulatory metrics: TSCA Section 5 requires a 90-day PMN review; EPA listed 456 active submissions as of Jan 2026 and a 2023 GAO report found EPA met the 90-day deadline less than 10% of the time.

  • Regulatory and technical context: The lane is intended to speed approvals for specialized cooling fluids, fire suppressants, corrosion inhibitors, biocides and additives used in immersion and direct-contact liquid cooling. Stakeholders quoted include Diana Rasner (Cleantech Group), Jeremy Greenhouse (Fredrikson & Byron), and Sean Gahan (Primient Covation LLC). Implementation/constraints: expedited federal review may reduce federal timelines, but state-level issues (e.g., Minnesota water-appropriation rules) and environmental safety concerns (fluorinated compounds vs. bio-based alternatives such as Susterra propanediol) remain important considerations.

• Jan 27, 2026

  EPA Prioritizes Data Center Chemical Reviews Amid TSCA Debate

  The US Environmental Protection Agency has established a priority review lane for chemicals used in data centers.

  • Main announcement: The EPA introduced a data-center priority review track (announced Sept 2025) to accelerate reviews of chemicals used in data centers and covered components; House Republicans released draft TSCA reform legislation on Jan 16, 2026, followed by House Energy and Commerce hearings on Jan 22, 2026. The move targets specialized cooling fluids, fire suppressants, corrosion inhibitors, biocides, and additives used in immersion and direct-contact liquid-cooling systems. The TSCA mechanism cited is Section 5 PMN with a statutory 90-day review window, and the EPA had 456 active submissions as of Jan 2026; a 2023 GAO report found the EPA met the 90-day deadline less than 10% of the time.

  • Background and implementation details: The priority lane is intended to give scheduling advantages to data-center projects seeking novel substances but does not remove TSCA review requirements; implementation interacts with state-level regulations (examples include Minnesota water-appropriation issues). Industry sources (Cleantech Group, Fredrikson & Byron, Primient Covation LLC) note both potential timeline benefits and environmental/public-health risks, and cite alternatives such as bio-based Susterra propanediol while warning expedited federal timelines carry tradeoffs.

• Jan 22, 2026

  Willmar City Council Votes to Invest $7.6 Million in Municipal Broadband

  The Willmar City Council approved a $7.6 million construction bid from NC3 to begin Phase One of the city-owned Willmar Connect municipal broadband project.

  • Vote and contract: The council approved the bid in a 5–3 vote, accepting the lowest bid from NC3 of Clearbrook, Minnesota, at about $7.6 million; the motion was introduced by Councilor Tom Gilbertson and seconded by Councilor Vicki Davis. Voting in favor: Audrey Nelsen, Justin Ask, Carl Shuldes; opposed: Stephen Gardner, Rick Fagerlie, Tom Butterfield.
  • Scope and timeline:Phase One will serve businesses and residences west of First Street South, between U.S. Highway 12 and 19th Avenue; the city had estimated the phase at slightly more than $8 million. The project is described as a multi-phase, three-phase buildout with future phases dependent on funding and the performance of the initial deployment.
• Jan 21, 2026

  Months later, lawsuit between nature school and bitcoin mine continues

  Lake Superior Academy (LSA) has filed a civil lawsuit against Odessa Partners over noise from a bitcoin-mining data center across the street; the dispute has continued into its seventh month.

  • Main announcement: LSA filed a civil lawsuit in June 2025 seeking damages for irreparable harm caused by noise from a cluster of data center units; mediation attempts stalled, the judge denied a jury trial request and ordered another 120-day mediation period.
  • Background & procedural details: LSA Superintendent Susie Schlehuber described stalled mediation where she asked the operator not to grow or become louder in exchange for dropping litigation; Odessa Partners filed a counter-suit seeking a bond to cover alleged damages (the judge did not grant the bond request).
• Jan 15, 2026

  The State of the Science 1 Year On: Environment

  The Trump administration has announced multiple rollbacks of U.S. environmental protections and actions to fast-track permits for mining, AI infrastructure, and data centers.

  • Major policy actions: Executive orders and budget proposals from the Trump administration include fast-tracking federal permitting for data-center infrastructure (July executive order), expediting mining permitting (goal: as little as 28 days), and an April executive order to revive coal and designate coal as a critical mineral; the administration also ordered closure of 25 USGS Water Science Centers and proposed cuts to NOAA labs and programs.
  • Concrete budget and project details: The FY2026 Omnibus proposal (OBBB / OMB materials) includes $2.46 billion cut to EPA Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, $1.01 billion cut to categorical grants for air and water quality, and $721 million cut to USDA Rural Development programs; the Interior announced plans to complete the Velvet-Wood mine environmental assessment in 2 weeks and construction of that uranium/vanadium mine began in November 2025.
• Jan 15, 2026

  Idled California Biomass Power Plant to Be Rebuilt as Carbon-Negative AI Factory

  NewYork GreenCloud has acquired the idled Buena Vista Biomass Power facility and announced plans to convert it into a 41-MW carbon-negative AI factory.

  • Main announcement: NYGC (NewYork GreenCloud) acquired the Buena Vista facility in Ione, CA and plans to repower the legacy 18-MW biomass plant into a 41-MW carbon-negative AI factory, replacing combustion with pyrolysis, integrating on-site immersion-cooled GPU compute, and pairing generation with Tesla Megapack battery storage; the announcement was made on Jan. 14.
  • Project structure & details: Impact Capital Partners advised on capital strategy; project materials estimate total capital expenditures of $156 million, note the site is interconnected to CAISO, currently permitted and located on fiber routes, describe a two-phase delivery (refurbishment/repowering then conversion to carbon-negative pyrolysis), and cite a 2026–2028 rollout evaluation window and specific agreements (e.g., a $6 billion Atlas Cloud AI / NYGC partnership with an initial $250 million deployment to host 288 HGX B300 systems with full deployment by February 2026).
• Jan 14, 2026

  Environmental groups protest proposed natural gas power plant near Edisto River

  Dominion Energy has proposed building the Canadys Station natural gas power plant on the retired coal site in Colleton County, South Carolina.

  • Main announcement: Dominion Energy proposes the Canadys Station natural gas plant on the retired coal-fired site ~40 miles northwest of Charleston in Colleton County; the company states the site was chosen for its established footprint, strong transmission connectivity, and that the facility would use advanced air-cooling and about 90 percent less water than the retired coal plant. The project includes a planned pipeline to supply natural gas that protesters say would run near the ACE Basin. The South Carolina Public Service Commission is expected to issue a final decision on April 14.
  • Background and other details: Local environmental groups (including the Charleston Climate Coalition) protested outside Dominion Energy headquarters, citing pollution, health risks (residents have experienced higher rates of asthma and cancer) and threats to downstream drinking water and protected lands. Activists say the plant could operate 30 to 40 years and questioned whether it is intended to meet data center demand; Dominion disputes attributing the need to data centers and says a proposed Colleton County data center is not in its service area.
• Jan 13, 2026

  Six Stony Brook University Faculty Mentor Regeneron STS Scholars

  Stony Brook University announced that ten high school students mentored by six Stony Brook faculty were named among the top 300 semifinalists in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search (Regeneron STS).

  • Main announcement: Ten Simons Summer Research Program fellows, mentored by six Stony Brook faculty, were named among the top 300 Regeneron STS semifinalists; each semifinalist and their high school will receive $2,000. The article lists faculty mentors (Benjamin Hsiao, Mohammad Javad Amiri, Yuefan Deng, Zhenhua Liu, Howard Sirotkin, Nengkun Yu) and student projects such as stormwater remediation of 6PPD, AI-enabled drug discovery for oncogenic eIF4E, and Carbon-Aware Reserve Allocation and Checkpoint Scheduling for GPU Sustainability.
  • Background and details: The semifinalists were selected from >2,600 applicants representing 46 states, Washington, D.C., Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and 16 countries; 40 finalists will be announced on January 21 to compete for over $3.1 million in awards during a week-long event in Washington, D.C., March 5–11. The piece references the Society for Science administration of Regeneron STS and notes that since 1997 about 600 semifinalists have been mentored by Stony Brook faculty.