Hermantown Council Approves Google Data Center Plan
The city approved the 200-acre project on Friday night, clearing the final major local hurdle for the tech giant despite intense community opposition.
By Camila Herrera ·
Google secured final local approval for its planned hyperscale data center in Hermantown, Minnesota, on Friday night. The city council voted unanimously to greenlight the 200-acre project, a decision that resolves the last major municipal obstacle for the company. The facility is designed to span 1.7 million square feet and will be located seven miles from Lake Superior in the Duluth suburb.
The vote concluded a contentious process marked by multiple delays and what MPR News reporter Dan Kraker described as vehement local opposition. Attendance at the meeting was limited to 85 people, a restriction that frustrated grassroots organizers. Richard Hilton, a local resident, addressed the council members directly. "We are angry that our local city council is representing a corporation instead of the citizens that they are supposed to," Hilton said.
The project carries substantial energy implications. Kraker noted that the data center is projected to consume 500 megawatts of electricity. This amount is roughly equivalent to the power required to supply the homes of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Rochester combined. The facility will operate as a hyperscale center, a term typically reserved for large-scale data infrastructure supporting major cloud and artificial intelligence workloads.
Homeowner Bob Kohlmeier previously voiced the community's resistance in an earlier report. "We’re just a little ol’ David vs. Goliath, but we’re gonna fight. This is our home and we will fight. And I think we’re gonna win," Kohlmeier said. The Stop the Hermantown Data Center group argued that the council made minimal changes to the plan to demonstrate that it had heard the residents' concerns.
Independent reporter Nikki Davidson compiled a video detailing the heated events leading up to the vote. She described the timeline as warp-speed. The council's approval on Friday night signifies that the local government has cleared its portion of the regulatory path. The project remains subject to additional legal and technical reviews before construction can begin.
Three lawsuits, specific zoning details, and land ownership issues still require resolution. Google must also obtain approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. These remaining steps constitute the final phase of the regulatory process for the Hermantown development.
