Status
Active
If just 10 of the more than 20 proposed data centers proposed in Minnesota were built, they would consume as much energy as all the homes in the state. That kind of spike could leave utilities scrambling to meet the demand, potentially leading to delayed coal plant retirements or the construction of new fossil fuel plants. The potential strain on water is also alarming. The Meta-backed facility proposed in Farmington would, for example, double the city’s water consumption.
Minnesota has a robust environmental review process for large-scale projects that could hold serious ramifications to our shared environment and health. Instead of providing these Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), developers were strategically advising cities to use an alternative process, called an Alternative Areawide Urban Review (AUAR), a kind of review never intended to evaluate specific proposals of this nature or magnitude.
When our attorneys dug into the details, they noticed gaping holes in the studies’ environmental analysis. Some never even mention the words “data center,” and several fail to adequately assess even basic environmental impacts, such as how many greenhouse gas emissions the facility might produce or how it could affect a city’s local aquifer or the state’s overall water supply. When MCEA tried to bring these shortcomings to cities’ attention, our concerns were either ignored or dismissed, and the flawed environmental review studies were approved.
Exacerbating the problem have been the non-disclosure agreements that many communities sign, which keep key aspects of hyper-scale data center proposals hidden from the public.
When environmental laws are skirted, it’s MCEA’s role to step in. Residents have a right to meaningfully participate in decisions that affect their communities and lives before elected officials advance them. Without a complete review of the potential impacts of these hyperscale data centers, Minnesotans across our state have been denied that right. MCEA filed its first lawsuits challenging some of these hyperscale data centers in 2025. While each case is distinct, the through-line connecting them all is the inadequate environmental review used to rush these projects forward.
MCEA has a long history of ensuring our environmental laws are upheld and that our environment, natural resources, and people are protected, no matter the proposal or who stands to profit from it. We are committed to doing the same as Minnesota wrestles with how to manage and respond to hyperscale data centers. In addition to litigation, MCEA supports adopting statewide guardrails to help manage the impacts from this novel industry and ensure our water, climate and communities are protected.
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KEY EVENTS
June 2026
The Minnesota Court of Appeals rules in favor of MCEA’s case challenging the hyperscale data center proposed in Faribault
Holding that the City's environmental review of the project did not comply with the law. The decision means the City must revise the environmental study to include a more complete and transparent analysis of the proposed data center’s potentially significant impacts related to air quality, noise pollution, and Minnesota’s climate targets, among other potential effects on nearby natural resources and residents.
May 2026
A Goodhue County District Judge grants MCEA’s request for an injunction in its ongoing Pine Island hyperscale data center case
until the environmental nonprofit’s legal case can be heard. The City and the developer had hoped to start construction on the sprawling, stadium-sized facility in July 2026. The judge’s order requires the developer to stop all construction and pre-construction activities until the lawsuit is resolved. The judge also found that MCEA had a likelihood of success on the merits and denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. The win recognizes that the City’s environmental review on the project should be fully examined for compliance with Minnesota law before any data center is built.
May 2026
A Dakota County District Court judge dismisses MCEA’s case challenging the hyperscale data center previously proposed in Lakeville because the proposal has not advanced to the permitting stage and appears inactive.
The judge notes in his order that the City’s effort to avoid studying data center impacts “very well may limit the future applicability” of the environmental study conducted on the site. If a data center proposal arises in Lakeville in the future, MCEA could use this ruling to argue that the project could not move forward without additional environmental review.
April 2026
Months into the litigation, the City informed MCEA that, although companies had considered developing a data center in the City, no actual proposal had materialized. The suit was dismissed voluntarily without prejudice, meaning MCEA could bring a similar lawsuit later if the facts change. The dismissal has no bearing on the merits of MCEA’s case, nor the adequacy of the environmental review conducted on the proposal.
March 2026
Hermantown announces plans to update the environmental review study
conducted on its proposed hyperscale data center development. MCEA agrees to stay its pending lawsuit challenging the environmental review of the proposed hyperscale data center in Hermantown while the city continues to update the study.
March 2026
Google announces it is the technology corporation behind hyperscale data centers proposed in both Pine Island and Hermantown
two of the projects MCEA is challenging for inadequate environmental review.
February 2026
MCEA challenges the environmental review of a hyperscale data center proposed in Monticello
for failing to comply with state law and to adequately assess the proposal’s potential impacts on water use, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and local energy demand. The appeal was filed in Wright County District Court.
November 2025
MCEA and Stop the Hermantown Data Center challenge the environmental study of Hermantown’s hyperscale data center proposal
“Project Loon.” The study lacked the required legal analysis and failed to disclose that the proposal under review was for the construction of a hyperscale data center. Public document requests revealed that the City had known the proposal was for a data center for over a year, but kept it secret from the public until September 2025. The environmental review documents failed to describe even the basic components of the proposal, estimating power and water usage based on those of a generic light industrial development rather than a large data center. It also failed to assess how the project might mitigate impacts on the surrounding community. The appeal was filed in St. Louis County District Court.
October 2025
MCEA challenges the environmental review of the hyperscale data center proposed in Pine Island
called “Project Skyway.” The appeal, filed in Goodhue County District Court, challenges the environmental study’s lack of specificity and analysis as required by law to adequately study a project’s potential environmental impacts. For example, environmental review documents stated “Project Skyway” would reportedly use up to 55.7 million gallons of Pine Island’s water annually and increase the City’s water use by 50 percent. Yet, the AUAR did not study how the spike in water usage could impact groundwater, local aquifers, or nearby private wells. The environmental study also did not disclose how much electricity the development would use, what the fuel source would be, or how it would impact the electrical grid.
October 2025
MCEA challenges the inadequate environmental review of a hyperscale data center proposed in Faribault
because the study lacked specificity and important analysis. For example, review documents vastly underreported the proposed facility’s impact on climate change and Minnesota’s electric grid. The appeal was filed in the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
August 2025
MCEA files its first lawsuits challenging the environmental review of suspected hyperscale data centers in Minnesota.
The lawsuits challenged the environmental reviews of anticipated data center projects in North Mankato and Lakeville