Minneapolis Council Narrowly Approves Strict Data Center Rules

The ordinance centralizes council approval, limits sites to existing upper‑floor spaces, requires energy and water disclosures, mandates decommissioning plans, compels large facilities to buy renewable energy credits.

Overview

The Minneapolis City Council passed the ordinance in a 7–6 vote Thursday and sent it to Mayor Jacob Frey for approval.
The new rules create an overlay district that gives the council case‑by‑case authority and bars data centers in new construction so they can only occupy existing buildings.
The ordinance forbids data centers from being a building's primary use and prevents them from locating on the first or second floors.
Developers must disclose energy, water and generator use, submit sound‑attenuation plans and provide decommissioning plans; facilities over 50,000 square feet must join a program to buy renewable energy credits from Xcel Energy.
City staff say downtown already has eight data centers and Xcel has signaled interest in up to eight more, so the mayor's decision before the moratorium expires on Nov. 21 will shape whether pending projects can move forward and how the power grid and neighborhoods will be affected.