Google Hermantown Data Center: Council Approves 1.7M Sq Ft Permit

The Hermantown City Council in Minnesota unanimously approved a special-use permit for Google's 1.7 million-square-foot Hermantown data center on the evening of Oct. 30, the Duluth News Tribune reported, and the meeting adjourned after 11:30 p.m.

As Voltgrid reported on Oct. 28, the council had postponed the votes on Oct. 26 after protesters disrupted its meeting, and a replacement session set for Oct. 27 was cancelled. Northern News Now said the council then passed all six data center resolutions after four hours of public comment, most of it from opponents.

What the council approved

According to the Duluth News Tribune, the five-member council also approved resolutions that reconfigured 22 existing properties into a plat of three lots, rejected a citizen petition for an environmental assessment worksheet, approved a development agreement with Google and approved a cooperative agreement with St. Louis County. A further resolution gives the city protections if the facility stops operating as a data center.

The site is in the southwest corner of the city, near Midway and Morris Thomas roads. Plans call for three 375,000-square-foot data buildings, each about 33 feet tall, and three 150,000-square-foot mechanical buildings, the newspaper said. The 234-acre site would also hold three utility pads totaling 200,000 square feet, about 750,000 square feet of equipment yards, 570 parking spaces and seven stormwater basins.

What the permit means for Google's power supply

The permit clears the main local hurdle for a campus that MPR News reported would use about 500 MW of electricity. That load still has no approved supply: the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has to approve the electric supply agreement between Google and Minnesota Power, with a vote expected early next year, as covered in our earlier story. Minnesota Power representatives spoke in favor of the project at the meeting, the Duluth News Tribune said.

Google's project website puts detailed design work next year, the newspaper reported. The company must still obtain wetland and construction permits, and the designs could trigger additional environmental review.

Hermantown data center opposition and lawsuits

The city let in only the first 85 members of the public, and a crowd of about 200 gathered outside, chanting "Let us speak!" Residents had asked for a larger venue. City Attorney Christopher Virta said that Tribal requests and resolutions should be taken seriously, but that state law gives Tribal governments no formal, direct role in the permitting process.

The vote came amid three lawsuits. KARE 11 reported that a judge denied a temporary restraining order that Stop the Hermantown Data Center, LLC filed on Oct. 29 to block permits and construction, and that a scheduling conference is set for Nov. 6. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy has sued the city and Google, arguing that a full environmental review is required, and two homeowners have sued the company over how their land was sold.

The Public Utilities Commission has not ruled on the Google and Minnesota Power supply agreement. The lawsuits are unresolved, and the wetland and construction permits have not been issued. No source read for this story gives a construction start date.