Overview
- A settlement announced Wednesday dismissed the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy’s lawsuit and requires Google and Ryan Companies to submit a new Environmental Assessment Worksheet to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
- The MPCA will perform a broad review of the project’s likely water and energy use, noise and light impacts, and other regional effects as part of the new state-led assessment.
- Google and Ryan must draft a mitigation plan based on the MPCA review, and construction will remain on hold until both the city and the state approve that plan.
- Minnesota’s attorney general has separately flagged Google’s contract with Xcel Energy as a potential source of millions to billions in added costs for other customers, a claim Xcel disputes and which adds fiscal and regulatory scrutiny to the project.
- Advocates and local residents say this is the first Minnesota data center to face a state review, a change that responds to complaints about opaque local approvals and could shape future oversight and legislation.