By Maya Betti, News Intern
Across Greater Minnesota, growing interest in data centers is triggering conflicts between residents, developers and the city governments stuck in between.
In recent years, a growing number of Minnesota county and city leaders have signed nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) with large developers like Google and Tract, keeping residents in the dark while negotiating hyperscale data centers — larger and more powerful than typical data centers — that could strain local infrastructure.
These local governments face a similar challenge: balancing developers’ promise of economic growth with residents’ worries about water use, noise and broader impacts on their communities.
But Northfield, despite its prime rural real estate, has yet to encounter this issue — and may not in the foreseeable future.
While the city has land zoned for industrial use like data centers, it also has a major obstacle for would-be developers: strict environmental efficiency standards that could make such projects more expensive and complex, leading developers to look elsewhere.
“I think it’s important that we have standards,” Council Member Davin Sokup said. “But yeah, it makes things more complicated.”
A growing statewide issue
More than 60 data centers already operate in Minnesota, according to the nonprofit Clean Water Action. In recent years, tech companies have proposed more than a dozen hyperscale data projects, driven by a growing demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
But in communities like Hermantown, North Mankato and Farmington, some residents say growth in technology hasn’t meant more transparency — and that they’ve been left out of decisions that could reshape their communities permanently.
In 2018, Sherburne County officials signed NDAs tied to an ultimately abandoned Google proposal, and NDAs signed in 2025 by St. Louis County commissioners and Hermantown leaders caused outrage after residents learned a massive server farm had been negotiated behind closed doors.
For these community members, secrecy is concerning not only because data centers could reshape their hometown, but also because of their enormous environmental footprint.
In 2023, U.S. data centers consumed 17 billion gallons of water in a single year, a number that could double or even quadruple by 2028 according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
In some cases, these facilities can draw more than 25% of a community’s available water supply.
In Farmington, residents learned in 2024 that Colorado-based Tract had proposed a hyperscale data center in the middle of a neighborhood — six months after city officials had signed NDAs with the developer. Later that year, the city went on to approve plans for a 240-acre campus with up to 12 buildings.
If built, the campus would use 2.93 million gallons of water a day — more than than the entire city currently uses.
“We have a well. We’re half a mile away [from the proposed data center]. Our well is going to go dry. It’s going to get brown and black and brackish. Nobody cares,” said Dave Akin, a longtime Farmington resident and volunteer with the Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development.
Dave and his wife, Kris Akin, said they never expected to become activists in their retirement.
“We started hearing bits and pieces about this project, and it quickly became clear that if we wanted to protect our community, we had to organize,” Kris said.
The couple were among 17 Farmington neighbors who helped form the Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development, creating both a 501(c)(4) lobbying group and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to address environmental concerns. The group has only grown since then.
In November 2024, the coalition sued the city of Farmington, asking for the project to be stalled until the residents’ concerns were met. As of April 2026, there is no official timeline for construction steps for the Farmington data center.
While the group has found support both statewide and nationally, it hasn’t been easy keeping momentum.
“It truly is David fighting Goliath, and we don’t have deep pockets either,” Dave said. “So it’s billionaires trying to wait us out.”
Since the group’s founding, people across the country have reached out with similar concerns about NDAs and data centers.
“Most of the emails I get are ‘Hi, I’m Susan from Illinois and our community just found out about a proposed data center help. What do we do?” Kris said.
According to Kris, data developers often use the same “game plan” everywhere, lobbying local governments and legislatures with promises of job development and economic growth.
Northfield’s unique position
Northfield has yet to see a major data center proposal. But that doesn’t mean the city isn’t prepared for one.
In 2024, the City Council rezoned 265 acres in the northwest part of the city from agricultural to industrial, opening the door to potential data centers. The site is described on the city’s website as “shovel-ready” and a prime opportunity for industrial and data center projects, with a skilled workforce within commuting distance.
At the same time, the city also established the strictest efficiency standards in the state, covering electricity use, heat output, air quality, noise, building height, exterior lighting and vibration. Any potential data center would have to meet these standards before receiving a certificate of occupancy.
According to Sokup, early rezoning conversations were not necessarily centered around data centers. The city’s strategic plan aims to reduce the residential property tax burden, and attracting commercial development to the northwest area could help achieve that goal.
However, former Community Development Director Jake Riley anticipated data center proposals after the rezoning and included higher regulations to address these facilities.
“A lot of residents are really upset about the long-term effects of water usage and environmental impacts,” Sokup said. “We wanted to be proactive [to those concerns].”
For Sokup, even with the city’s high regulations, data centers might not be the solution that Northfield is looking for.
“I would love to see something that brings good-paying jobs to Northfield,” Sokup said. “Data centers don’t really check that box because there aren’t many people that need to work there.”
Data centers generate relatively few permanent jobs, despite their multibillion-dollar investments.
That, according to Sokup, coupled with towns with looser regulations “30 miles in every direction,” means it is unlikely that a data center proposal will be seen in Northfield any time soon.
KYMN Radio reached out to other members of the Northfield city council, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Legislative action
In February, the Coalition for Responsible Data Center Planning organized a rally at the Minnesota State Capitol with homeowners and environmental advocates from more than 20 organizations.
At the rally, participants called on state lawmakers to pass a two-year moratorium on new projects, arguing that the rapid expansion of data centers is outpacing oversight and overriding the concerns of local communities.
“We wanted to amplify our voices by joining together,” Kris said. “That’s what we’re telling people when they email us: learn, educate yourself, organize and then amplify by involving others.”
Currently, there are several bills in the Minnesota Legislature aimed at regulating data centers, including one that would stop local officials from signing secrecy agreements with developers and another that would require public hearings and full disclosure of project details.
Rep. Kristi Pursell, DFL-Northfield, who is sponsoring a House bill requiring large water users to obtain separate permits, said larger companies often find ways to bypass the system.
“The billionaires of the planet are trying to get tax breaks and use our water or our energy in a way that’s not equitable to Minnesotans,” Pursell said. “We should not be paying the bills.”
For Pursell, it’s the lack of solutions from developers that has been frustrating — but she said she welcomes creative partnerships. She said Northfield’s higher standards could be a way to meet residents’ concerns while creating economic growth.
“It could be a really cool opportunity if we [Northfield] had the first LEED Platinum, circular water-use, energy-neutral or even energy-creating [data center],” she said. “Let’s be creative.”
Still, for the Akins and other Minnesotans, the fight isn’t over.
“I think we’re ultimately hoping that Tract takes their business elsewhere, and the city of Farmington and staff realign and relook at the future of Farmington,” Kris said.
Maya Betti is a KYMN News intern and an Executive Editor of the St. Olaf Messenger at St. Olaf College. Contact her at news@kymnradio.net
