Hermantown council approves Google data center near Duluth despite protests

The Hermantown, Minnesota, City Council unanimously approved a development agreement, a special use permit and a decommissioning plan for a proposed 1.7 million-square-foot Google data center late Oct. 30, after four hours of public comment that came mostly from opponents, MPR News reported; the city limited in-person attendance to 85 people after protests forced two earlier meetings to be rescheduled. The votes were the project’s last major local approvals, but it still faces three pending lawsuits, and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission must approve an electric service agreement with Minnesota Power for the facility, which is expected to need 500 megawatts. Google dropped a request for up to $80 million in property tax breaks, agreed to monitor nearby private wells and cut the project from four buildings to three, per MPR.