Google revealed as tenant for massive Pine Island data center project
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The tech giant behind a controversial proposed new large-scale data center in Pine Island, a small community just north of Rochester, has finally been revealed as Google, according to the city.
The Google project is just phase one in a large industrial project that will eventually sit on 482 acres. The initial phase, which includes Google’s data center, will take up about 88 acres.
“Google’s investment in Pine Island will be transformational for our city and reflects confidence in our community, and our future,” said Mayor David Friese in a statement.
Pine Island made the announcement just as data center opponents call on Minnesota lawmakers to consider stronger regulations and a two-year pause on data center construction this session, and after the city of Eagan halted data center development for one year.
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Pine Island resident Aubree Derksen is among those asking the legislature temporarily halt data center construction. She is also an organizer for the Stop the Pine Island Data Center group, which has argued for months that the city hasn’t been transparent about its data center plans.
“We need that moratorium to slow down, so that these impacts can actually be studied and assessed so that we can put in all the needed safeguards,” she said. “Public transparency has been skipped, and that's not okay at all.”
New jobs, more property taxes
Only one large data center facility in Rosemount is currently under construction in Minnesota.
But there are at least a dozen proposed in the state, including the Pine Island facility as well as several in the Twin Cities metro area, Hermantown and Cannon Falls.
Pine Island city leaders say the project would be a boon for the community. They say Google and its developer have promised 100 full-time jobs and around 500 construction jobs while the facility is being built. Opponents dispute those claims saying some job creation estimates put forth by backers of the project are much lower.
The city provided $36 million to Google in tax incentives to locate its facility there. But that money will eventually come back to Pine Island with an expected $131 million in new property tax revenue. Up to $3 million will be put into a community fund.
City Administrator Elizabeth Howard said that $25 million of the new revenue will go to the Pine Island schools to support science and technology education, as well as to modernize classrooms.
“It was very critical to the city that the school saw financial benefit from this development. and going entering into an abatement agreement was one of the only ways that we could hold them accountable to do so for that,” she said.
Skepticism from the community
The project has been controversial and is subject to legal action, with a hearing on a lawsuit seeking an injunction to block the development scheduled for April.
Opponents worry about potential noise and light pollution from the data center and related facilities, and that the project could create health issues for the community.
Another big concern is that the data center will sap natural resources, including large amounts of water that would be used to cool the building.
Pine Island city officials said that the facility will use advanced air-cooling technology rather than water to stay cool.
But Derksen and other opponents aren’t sold on the idea that the technology Google is proposing to use will be any less harmful to the region’s natural resources. She said that power generation inevitably draws on water and other resources.
“Air-cooling does not mean water free,” she said. “Electricity production uses water in order to get that power, in addition to other sources. Air cooling uses more electricity, which in turn consumes more water.”
Xcel Energy will power the facility, but Google will pay for necessary expansions to the grid to accommodate the significant energy demand. Xcel’s agreement with Google includes an investment in bringing 1,900 megawatts of new clean energy to the grid, which Xcel says will help Minnesota meet its carbon-free energy goals.
The Minnesota Public Utility Commission will need to approve the data center’s electricity plan first. The project’s developer said it hopes to start construction this year.
