A Minneapolis City Council committee voted to support a six-month pause on building new data centers in the city, with some exemptions for downtown projects.
The full Minneapolis City Council voted to introduce a moratorium on data centers in May. It still needed a committee hearing and final approval by the council, but immediately took effect in the meantime. It puts a pause on the establishment, re-establishment or expansion of data centers, except for projects that are located downtown and are less than 350,000 square feet.
Council Member Aurin Chowdhury is the lead author on the moratorium and said it’s needed while the city drafts and implements permanent regulations on data centers.
“I believe it’s our responsibility to ensure that Minneapolis has the information, policies and the strongest protections necessary before data center growth, and this temporary moratorium complements the policy work that we’re going to undergo in the next five months,” she said.
The Business, Housing and Zoning Committee heard from the public for more than an hour Tuesday before voting 5-1 in favor of the moratorium.
Interest groups, residents and businesses gave comments for and against the moratorium for primarily environmental and economic reasons.
“Tech billionaires are trying to build giant data centers, which, if poorly regulated, could pollute our water, drain aquifers, increase climate emissions, raise electric bills, subject neighbors to air, noise and light pollution, strain the state budget and force cuts to services people rely on,” said Marya Hart, a representative of the Sierra Club’s North Star Chapter.
Representatives of local unions largely opposed the moratorium, citing the potential for data centers to trigger economic growth and employment opportunities.
“Data centers provide thousands of work hours for our members and families, sustaining careers that offer industry-leading wages, health care, retirement benefits and apprenticeship training opportunities,” said Jake Pettit, a representative of the Local 539 Pipefitters union.
The full City Council will have a final vote on the moratorium next week. In the meantime, city staff is working on drafting permanent data center regulations.
“Minneapolis lacks a modern regulatory framework for data centers,” Chowdhury said. “Existing zoning categories were designed for older telecommunications infrastructure, and do not adequately address today’s facilities.”
