Minneapolis Council Passes Data Center Rules 7-6, Limiting Them to Existing Downtown Buildings as November 21 Moratorium Nears
The Minneapolis City Council in Hennepin County, Minnesota, voted 7-6 on November 12 to pass a new data center ordinance imposing strict limits on new facilities.
Under the approved measure, new data centers may go only into existing buildings in two downtown overlay districts. They cannot be a building's primary use and cannot sit on the first or second floor. Server space is generally capped at 50,000 square feet, rising to 150,000 square feet for larger facilities that join a renewable-energy program and power all of their operations with renewable electricity. Each new project also requires individual council approval.
The ordinance now goes to Mayor Jacob Frey, who has expressed reservations about the project-by-project approval requirement, and the council has scheduled a November 20 meeting to address a possible veto. The city's temporary moratorium on most new data centers expires on November 21.
Mayor Frey supports a regulatory approach that allows some data center development rather than a full ban. Residents backing tighter limits are asking for stronger protections, worried about data centers' heavy power use and their effects on the environment and downtown real estate.
Source: Minneapolis City Council
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 明尼阿波利斯市政厅。 / Minneapolis City Hall.
