THE ESSENTIALS IN 30 SECONDS

  • Hermantown's council voted unanimously late on October 30 for a development agreement, a special use permit, a decommissioning plan and a cooperative agreement with St. Louis County.
  • Google dropped its request for up to $80 million in property tax breaks and signed a $210 million decommissioning agreement, MPR News reports.
  • Three lawsuits are pending, and Minnesota regulators still have to approve Google's electric service agreement with Minnesota Power.

The city council of Hermantown, a small Minnesota city just outside Duluth, voted unanimously late on Friday, October 30, to approve the main local agreements for a large Google data center. According to MPR News, the meeting ended shortly before midnight after roughly four hours of public comment, most of it from opponents, and an hour of council discussion.

What the council approved

The five voting members, including Mayor Wayne Boucher, backed a development agreement with Google, a special use permit, a plan for decommissioning the site if the project is abandoned or never finished, and a cooperative agreement with St. Louis County, Bring Me The News reports. The council also rejected a citizen petition asking for an environmental assessment worksheet. MPR describes these votes as the last major approvals the project needs at the local level.

The campus would cover about 1.7 million square feet on more than 200 acres of rural residential land. Google has cut the number of data buildings from four to three, capped at 33 feet in height. MPR, citing the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota, says the site is expected to draw 500 megawatts, about as much electricity as the homes of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth and Rochester combined.

On the financial side, Google withdrew its request for up to $80 million in property tax breaks and agreed to a $210 million decommissioning guarantee. The city expects around $3 million a year in property taxes, and Google has also agreed to monitor private wells near the site.

A contested process

The vote followed a meeting on Monday, October 27, that was called off after two hours of protests. For the rescheduled session, the city capped attendance at 85 people and offered online viewing and emailed comments, limits that the group Stop the Hermantown Data Center criticized. Residents raised water use, noise, vibration and the non-disclosure agreements some officials signed during more than a year of talks with Google before the project became public. Councilmember John Geissler argued the decision concerned a land use application, not artificial intelligence or big tech.

What comes next

The project is not yet settled. Three lawsuits challenge the environmental review, the rezoning process and the ownership status of the land; the city attorney told the council none of them prevented a vote. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission must also approve an electric service agreement between Google and Minnesota Power. Google has not published a construction timeline in the sources reviewed.