Data Center Proposal Transparency & Environmental Impact Statements
Data Center Proposal Transparency & Environmental Impact Statements
Author: Margaret Sullivan
Date Created: October 26, 2025
Explainer:
Hyperscale data centers use massive amounts of water and energy, and yet the early stages of their planning happen in secrecy with local government officials, and without full environmental assessments.
The term “data center” scares a lot of us.
Maybe we heard about the Georgia kitchen tap that lost pressure and started giving water full of sediment, after a Meta data center arose 400 yards away.
Or the Virginia homeowner living within a mile of 14 data centers who says, “the constant buzzing and smell of what I believe is diesel make it hard for me to even go in my backyard.”
We picture our farmers, fighting tech bros for land or water rights – and who’s to say they aren’t already?
For anyone with a spidey-sense the hyperscale data center invasion is really a land grab for billionaires – see the article “The Great Data Center Land Grab” at Datacenters.com (the terrifying / fascinating website of a global data center co-location company).
No depressed Minnesota town can be blamed for liking the upfront money and short-term construction jobs that hyperscale data centers offer. But if residents don’t actually want to live near these centers, what could that do to residential property values? And Minnesota has a lot of small towns. If each has the right to accept a proposal to turn over significant land to these centers – theoretically possible on our current course – what then?
It’s also possible the industry is an investment bubble about to pop. If it does, how might that affect communities hosting hyperscale data centers?
And what would it mean for billionaires to own significant acreage in every county in our state – also theoretically possible, on our current course – even if they didn’t build a data center on each plot?
Data center company representatives typically approach a city council or county commission to start a conversation that may lead to a proposal. And typically, representatives of the jurisdiction are asked upfront, to sign non-disclosure agreements about their conversations with the data center company. So most of the time, Minnesotans have no idea negotiations have begun.
The unknowns are everywhere, and are, themselves, threatening. As Jeremy Fisher of the National Sierra Club has written: “Unfortunately, it is remarkably hard to nail down real data center electric demand projections from either utilities or data center developers: even top analysts aren’t clear about the size of the market, or if it will be financially viable, the folks who just build data centers aren’t sure if they’ll have takers over the long run, and utilities really just don’t know what to think.”
And it’s tough to know how many uncertainties are actually known data, that’s being hidden from the public. For example, an Alternative Urban Areawide Review, or AUAR – the environmental study that data center proposals typically provide – doesn’t require precise water or energy consumption data from the company proposing a data center.
Minnesota’s legislature passed initial legislation around hyperscale data centers last June, but not all proposed policies made it into the final bill. Advocates are working to make two of them into law next session: the end of non-disclosure agreements between data center developers and elected officials, and requirement of full environmental impact studies, which include a data center’s true and complete energy and water consumption data.
Call to Action:
We propose a phone campaign, to start now, as legislators map next-session priorities. It demands:
Ending of non-disclosure agreements between data center proposers and MN jurisdictions.
Requirement of a full environmental impact statement for every existing and new HDC proposal, regardless of acreage or building size, which includes correct and complete energy and water consumption.
Contact Info:
We are contacting state legislators and the Governor’s office.
State Legislature:
Find your state senators and representatives here:
https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/
https://www.house.mn.gov/members/list
·
Minnesota Governor’s office
651-201-3400
Toll Free: 800-657-3717
https://mn.gov/governor/connect/contact-us/contact-form.jsp
Sample Script (voice or email):
Hello, my name is ______, and I’m a constituent from _______.
Optional: I am a member of Indivisible Twin Cities.
Thank you so much for serving as my representative / senator / governor in these uncertain times.
I have many concerns about how Minnesota is handling data centers. But my most basic needs for you at this point are to create legislation to:
End non-disclosure agreements between data center developers and elected officials, and
Require a full environmental impact statement, for every existing and incoming data center proposal, regardless of acreage or building size, which includes a data center’s true and complete energy and water consumption data.
Add 1-2 sentences about why this matters to you.
Resources
‘I Can’t Drink The Water’ – Life Next to A US Data Centre,” BBC July 10, 2025 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8gy7lv448o
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/live-near-14-data-centers-091101514.html
https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2025/08/fools-gold-when-700-gigawatts-data-centers-come-knocking?, August 28, 2025.
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/opinions/pre-emptive-data-center-moratoria-the-hot-new-trend-of-local-government/
https://www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily/Story/18838
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/06/18/data-centers-face-new-regulations-in-minnesota
National Sierra Club webinar “Data Centers: Power Plays - But Who Pays?” August 20, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/xVF1OSHreO4?si=L-_JxL63NGtEaGL_
https://www.colocrossing.com/blog/colocation-definition/
Sizes of some MN data centers, proposed or under construction, as of 11.25.25 (listed by location)
Apple Valley 280 acres Proposed
Farmington 343 acres Proposed
Hermantown 220 acres Proposed
Pine Island 480 acres Proposed
Rosemount 200 acres + 715,000 sq ft. Under constriction
State Legislators’ Data Center Bill Voting Records
House Vote on Data Centers (passing 85 - 43): (MAY BE HARD TO READ ON A SMALL SCREEN.)
For the full House discussion on HF 16, the data center bill, see here.
To narrow in on Rep. Athena Hollins' great comments, click here.
Red = voted against the Data Center Bill, legislation which did not address non-disclosure agreements and extended tax breaks to data center owners.
Green = voted for the bill.
Senate Vote on Data Centers (passing 40 - 26) (MAY BE HARD TO READ ON A SMALL SCREEN.)
For the full Senate discussion on this bill, see here.
Comments by Senator John Marty here.
Speech by Senator Erin Maye Quade, click here.
FOLLOWING PAGES: Non-disclosure agreement between the City of Hermantown and Mortenson, Inc., January 6, 2025 (MAY BE HARD TO READ ON A SMALL SCREEN)