Hermantown Approves Google Data Center After Two Delayed Votes

A unanimous Hermantown city council vote on Friday, October 30 has cleared Google's 200-acre data center project in Minnesota — after two postponed meetings, three lawsuits, and an $80 million concession on tax breaks.

The decision came shortly before midnight, following hours of public opposition. The meeting was capped at 85 attendees and offered a livestream. Some residents criticized the attendance restriction. The council approved a development agreement, a special use permit, and decommissioning provisions covering site abandonment or eventual closure.

Council member John Geisler framed the vote narrowly.

"What we've done tonight is not about AI. It's not about big tech. It's not about software. It's about a project here in Hermantown, a land use application, and agreements that are associated with that," Geissler said.

He stressed the decision concerned local land use, not the wider debate over artificial intelligence or large technology companies. The distinction matters. Opponents wanted the broader question aired.

What did Google give up to win approval?

The approval extracted real concessions. Google reduced the plan from four buildings to three, capped building height at 33 feet, and agreed to monitor nearby private wells. Each building would still exceed six football fields in footprint. The three buildings span approximately 1.66 million square feet on a rural residential site outside Duluth.

Google also withdrew an earlier request for up to $80 million in property tax breaks. The revised arrangement is expected to generate about $3 million in annual property tax for the city. A separate decommissioning agreement is valued at $210 million.

Supporters cited these provisions as evidence the company responded to local concerns. Opponents argued the changes never addressed whether such a large development belongs in the area at all. Both claims can be true. The concessions set terms; they do not settle the siting question.

Is construction now certain?

No. Three lawsuits filed by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Stop the Hermantown Data Center challenge the city's zoning process and land ownership, and demand an environmental review of the project.

Power supply remains a separate obstacle. The facility requires about 500 megawatts, comparable to the combined household demand of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Rochester, according to the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota. Google still needs approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on power consumption, despite an existing agreement with Minnesota Power.

The Hermantown fight follows a familiar pattern. In August, Alabama residents failed to halt a 50MW Bitcoin mining facility despite local moratoriums, exposing gaps in state zoning rules. In September, NorthPoint Development's proposed 1,300-acre data center in Pennsylvania met resistance even after the developer offered $10,000 to thousands of nearby households. Residents in both cases raised noise, water consumption, and property values.

Scale keeps driving friction. Last year, the OpenAI Stargate facility in Michigan received approval for a 1.4-gigawatt power supply; construction began in June 2026 despite resident objections. Google is also pursuing a separate data center near Pine Island, close to Rochester. That proposal now faces a more extensive environmental review following a legal settlement.

Hermantown's vote is a milestone, not a finish line. The courts, the Public Utilities Commission, and the environmental review all stand between approval and construction. Each step has delayed comparable projects elsewhere.