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The tech giant behind a massive and controversial proposed data center in the northeast Minnesota community of Hermantown has been revealed to be Google, which just last week announced that it is also behind the development of another 

, in the small community of Pine Island. 

 announced its plans Tuesday, calling the city of about 10,000 people bordering Duluth “a natural fit for this project, offering a climate that supports energy-efficient air cooling, a resilient power grid and a dedicated and motivated workforce.” 

“This collaboration with Minnesota Power serves as a model for how large-scale digital infrastructure can facilitate the expansion of clean energy and battery storage while contributing to local energy affordability,” said Amanda Peterson Corio, Global Head of Data Center Energy at Google.

But opponents of the enormous development are unmoved by now knowing who is behind the project that had for months been cloaked in secrecy, with one critic calling Google “a heartless corporation run by heartless people.”

In a related announcement, Duluth-based utility Minnesota Power said it had reached an agreement with Google to provide electricity for the massive development. Under the deal, Google will help fund infrastructure to produce 700 megawatts of electricity from new clean energy sources, including 300 megawatts of wind energy and 400 megawatts of battery storage capability. 

It’s unclear how much it would cost to build those clean energy resources, but it’s substantial.  Minnesota Power’s latest 200 megawatt wind project, which the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved last week, is projected to cost $790 million. 

The commitment to generate 700 megawatts of power from green energy sources is significant. Minnesota Power currently has the capacity to generate about 2,000 megawatts of electricity to provide power to all of its residential and business customers in the region, including several huge industrial sites that use a lot of power, such as iron ore mines and paper mills. 

About 60 percent, or 1,200 megawatts, of that electricity is currently generated by renewable resources like wind, solar and hydropower. The utility plans to phase out its remaining coal plants by 2035. Minnesota Power currently doesn’t operate any large scale battery projects, which can help to meet large customers’ 24-7 energy needs when weather patterns interrupt wind and solar generation. 

“Having Google choose to come to our service territory and pay for new resources like this is really helping us bring more clean energy resources online,” which helps the utility meet Minnesota’s requirement for 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040, said Jennifer Cady, Minnesota Power’s vice president of public policy and external affairs, in an interview with MPR News.

Google did not reveal how much electricity the data center would consume. But Minnesota Power stresses that the tech giant would pay for the share of the new clean energy resources it uses and to interconnect to the grid. 

A law passed by state legislators last year forbids utilities from passing along the cost of supplying electricity to data centers to other customers. 

“They will pay for the costs for coming to this service area and, more importantly, they're going to help us spread the costs of all of our infrastructure across a broader pool,” said Julie Pierce, Minnesota Power’s vice president of strategy and planning. 

Google’s project in Hermantown is one of about a dozen hyperscale data center projects proposed around the state. But only one is under construction: a Meta facility in Rosemount. They’re enormous warehouses that store racks of computer servers that power artificial intelligence and cloud computing. 

In Hermantown, the proposal has generated intense public scrutiny and pushback since details began to emerge late last year. For months, rumors had swirled about a massive development proposal. But it was shrouded in secrecy. 

Documents revealed that city officials were in discussions for over a year with project developers about the proposal, dubbed “Project Loon.” Several Hermantown and St. Louis County officials signed non-disclosure agreements with the construction and development firm, Mortensen, which prohibited them from discussing details. 

Until Google’s announcement Tuesday, the city had only said a “Fortune 50” company was pursuing the $650 million data center. 

“The first reaction is frustration,” said Aaron Klemz, Strategy Officer for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, about Google’s announcement. Klemz said for months people in Hermantown and elsewhere who have tried to learn more about proposed data centers have been met with a “wall of secrecy.” 

“The public should have had a chance to ask questions, make comments and get answers to their questions, and now they're just being presented with a bill of goods at the end of it, and expected to accept it,” Klemz said. 

The development would include four buildings, each up to 50 feet tall and 300,000 square feet — about the size of five football fields per building — on a 200-acre site. 

 for the project last October, following a contentious meeting where dozens of citizens blasted the city for what they said was a lack of transparency. 

But project developer Mortensen has since 

 on obtaining further needed approvals. It pulled a special use permit for consideration from the city’s planning and zoning commission, saying it was weighing changes to the proposal and wanted to first host a community open house. 

City administrator John Mulder said there are ongoing discussions about the open house. “But there’s been no set dates,” he said. 

The city would also need to approve a development agreement for the project to proceed. The city of Pine Island approved $36 million in tax incentives as part of its agreement to lure Google to the city. But Mulder wouldn’t say whether Hermantown is considering something similar.

“We’re just super excited that Google is making this announcement and that they're choosing to be in Hermantown, and we will continue to work with them throughout this process,” Mulder said.

 to pass stricter regulations to govern the facilities. They’re also asking for a two-year moratorium on new data center development. 

In Hermantown and elsewhere, critics have raised a host of concerns, from potential noise and light pollution to increased traffic to the huge amounts of electricity and water that data centers often require, to a potential decline in property values in areas surrounding the developments. 

Jeffrey Donahue, a member of the grassroots group Stop the Hermantown Data Center, said a facility two-thirds the size of the Mall of America does not belong in a rural residential area. And the fact that it’s Google behind it, he said, doesn’t change a thing. 

"Google is a heartless corporation run by heartless people. All they want is their data center. They don't care how it's built. They don't care who it hurts. They don't care about the the homeowners, the renters, anybody that's close by,” said Donahue. 

The Hermantown group, along with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, has sued to block the proposed data center in Hermantown. MCEA has also filed lawsuits against  projects in five other cities, arguing that the local governments didn’t adequately review the proposals. 

“The fact that Google wants to come into our community without completing an environmental impact statement is obscene,” said Donahue. 

But supporters say data center projects would create hundreds of construction jobs and significantly grow local tax bases. In Hermantown, the developer is also proposing to pay to extend sewer and water to the area, which could help pave the way for badly needed housing. 

As part of the agreement with Minnesota Power, Google is promising to contribute $5 million to energy affordability and efficiency programs for residential customers.

Google also says that by utilizing advanced air-cooling technology, it will only need to use water for domestic needs like kitchens and bathrooms. 

Minnesota Power officials hope that commitments like that will help ease community fears. 

“We definitely know there are concerns in the community,” said Cady. “We're really hopeful by Google announcing that they are the developers and then announcing the details of how they plan to operate in the community, that that will be a new chapter in this story.”

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Dan Kraker

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The tech giant, who’s plan was previously cloaked in secrecy, says it will help pay for the construction of wind farms and battery storage to help power the proposed $650 million project outside Duluth. Critics call Google “a heartless corporation.”

Tech giant Google is behind controversial data center proposal in Hermantown

Dan Kraker | MPR News 

Exterior shot of a part brick, part metal building that serves as headquarters for Allete and Minnesota Power.

Tech giant Google is behind controversial data center proposal in Hermantown

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