Hermantown opens second comment period on proposed Google data center
Hermantown has reopened review of Google’s proposed data center, with a smaller AUAR study area and unresolved questions on power, water and neighborhood impacts.
Hermantown has put Google’s proposed data center back under fresh public scrutiny with a second comment period on the project’s review file. Residents can send comments to Community Development Director Eric Johnson as the city weighs a campus that could reshape land use, utility planning and the character of southwest Hermantown.
The new review comes after Hermantown opened a 30-day comment period on March 31 for an updated scoping document tied to the Alternative Urban Areawide Review, then closed that period on April 30. The updated AUAR study area covered 26 parcels and about 278 acres in the southwest corner of the city, smaller than an earlier Hermantown Industrial AUAR scoping document that covered about 395 acres on 27 parcels. The document still described one development scenario of up to 1.8 million square feet of industrial use.
Google confirmed on March 3 that it was behind the proposed 1.8 million-square-foot data center. Hermantown officials said the company chose the area for its climate, workforce and Minnesota Power’s grid, and Minnesota Power said it had reached an Electric Service Agreement with Google to power the project. The utility also said the data center would be served under an existing regulated rate structure so existing customers would not pay the costs of connecting and serving the new large customer.
The project has already moved through some major local hurdles but not all of them. At the Hermantown City Council meeting on Oct. 20, 2025, nearly 300 people attended and dozens testified against the proposal before the council approved a rezoning request. In December, the city denied a petition for an Environmental Assessment Worksheet, saying the adopted AUAR already covered a worst-case scenario of up to 1.8 million square feet of light industrial use and that later project specifics would have to stay within the mitigation plan or trigger update procedures under state rules.
Opposition has widened beyond the council chamber. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Stop the Hermantown Data Center sued in November 2025 to try to halt the project, arguing the environmental study failed to disclose that it was evaluating a large data center. Supporters, including the Hermantown Area Chamber of Commerce, say the project could strengthen the tax base and ease long-term pressure on residential taxpayers.
What remains unresolved is the set of local impacts that often define a project of this scale: infrastructure costs, water use, power demand, construction traffic, noise, aesthetics and the effect on nearby neighborhoods. Hermantown’s planning process treats AUARs and EAWs as part of a step-by-step review before any building permit application is decided, leaving the city still in the middle of a decision that could influence one of the Northland’s most closely watched industrial developments.
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