Minnesota
DataCentersExposed tracks 39 AI data centers in Minnesota — 4 operating and 7 in the pipeline — across 12 counties, drawing 1.6 GW of reported power demand from 10 tracked corporate operators. Minnesota's data-center tax break cost the state $68.7M in forgone revenue in FY2024.
Sources: Methodology, Coverage scorecard
Reporting by Eric Keller · Updated May 29, 2026
Minnesota at a glance
The largest footprint in Minnesota belongs to Cologix, Inc., behind 4 tracked facilities. DataBank Holdings, Ltd., Flexential Corp., and H5 Data Centers round out the most active operators in the state. Many of these sites are filed under shell or project names rather than the parent's — our operator column resolves them back to the real corporate parent wherever the chain is documented.
Geographically, the buildout clusters: Hennepin County leads Minnesota with 4 facilities and a composite risk score of 7/100. St. Louis County and Anoka County follow. Our county risk score weights project exposure (40%), power demand (30%), water draw (15%), and land footprint (15%); the full breakdown is shown on each county page.
Minnesota is not done growing. 7 facilities are in the pipeline — proposed, permitted, or under construction — which is where residents still have a say at zoning hearings and in rate cases. Each pending project is a decision about land, water, electricity prices, and tax revenue that hasn't been finalized.
We also surface the accountability trail: 8 state bills mentioning data centers and 6 recent news items are tracked for Minnesota below, pulled from LegiScan and GDELT and refreshed automatically. Legislation is linked to the counties and operators it names; news is classified by community sentiment.
2035 Buildout Outlook
Under the model's moderate-growth scenario (5%/yr annual load growth), PNNL's IM3 model sites about 1 standardized 36 MW campus in Minnesota by 2035 — roughly 36 MW of new electricity demand and ~35 M gal/yr of cooling water. Under the higher-growth scenario (15%/yr) that climbs to 10 campuses (360 MW). For scale, we currently track 39 real data centers in Minnesota (1.6 GW of reported power).
- Low growth136 MW · ~35 M gal/yr cooling water
- Moderate growth136 MW · ~35 M gal/yr cooling water
- High growth5180 MW · ~174 M gal/yr cooling water
- Higher growth10360 MW · ~348 M gal/yr cooling water
The model assigns ~100% of these campuses' cooling to evaporative water cooling in Minnesota (the rest to mechanical/air cooling), a split it derives from local water stress and wet-bulb temperature.
These are modeled candidate sites, not announced or permitted facilities. PNNL's IM3 model places identical 36 MW unit-campuses at feasible locations under each scenario — it shows where demand could concentrate, never a specific parcel. Figures use a market-gravity weight of 50. How the model works.
Top operators in Minnesota
The taxpayer price tag
“gross forgone state tax revenue ranges from a low of $43.9 million in 2013 to a high of $101.6 million in 2015 before slowly declining to $68.7 million by 2024.”
Program-wide cost of Minnesota's data-center tax incentive(s), reported by the state — not attributable to a single facility. “Proj” = the state's own forward estimate; all other figures are realized/audited. Each links to its primary source.
County risk leaderboard
| County | Facilities | Pipeline | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hennepin County | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| St. Louis County | 2 | — | 4 |
| Anoka County | 1 | — | 4 |
| Carver County | 1 | — | 4 |
| Olmsted County | 1 | — | 4 |
| Ramsey County | 1 | — | 4 |
| Dakota County | 5 | 3 | — |
| Sherburne County | 1 | — | — |
| Wright County | 1 | 1 | — |
| Rice County | 1 | 1 | — |
| Goodhue County | 1 | 1 | — |
| Nobles County | 1 | — | — |
Pipeline & proposals
- Proposed1.2 GWProject SkywayRyan Companies US, Inc/Google · Goodhue County
- ProposedFaribault Data CenterOperator unknown · Rice County
- ProposedMonitcello Data CenterMonticello Tech, LLC, · Wright County
- ProposedTRACT Data CenterOperator unknown · Dakota County
- ProposedTRACT Data CenterOperator unknown · Dakota County
- ProposedUS Internet Data CenterOperator unknown · Hennepin County
All tracked facilities
| Facility | Operator | Status | County | MW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Skyway | Ryan Companies US, Inc/Google | Proposed | Goodhue | 1,200 |
| Faribault Data Center | — | Proposed | Rice | — |
| Monitcello Data Center | Monticello Tech, LLC, | Proposed | Wright | — |
| TRACT Data Center | — | Proposed | Dakota | — |
| TRACT Data Center | — | Proposed | Dakota | — |
| US Internet Data Center | — | Proposed | Hennepin | — |
| MSP1 Data Center | — | Under construction | Dakota | 12 |
| Geronimo Power Data Center | — | Blocked | Nobles | 400 |
| DataBank | DataBank Holdings, Ltd. | Hennepin | 9 | |
| Flexential Minneapolis - Chaska | Flexential Corp. | Carver | 9 | |
| H5 Minneapolis | H5 Data Centers | Ramsey | 8 | |
| 232 20th St NW, East Grand Forks | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| 421 N 6th Ave East | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| 702 Communications - Moorhead, MN | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Amazon Becker Data Center | Amazon.com, Inc. | Blocked | Sherburne | — |
| Ark Duluth Data Center | Prime Data Centers | St. Louis | — | |
| Centersquare Minneapolis (MSP1) | CenterSquare (formerly Cyxtera) | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Cologix MIN1 | Cologix, Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Cologix MIN2 | Cologix, Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Cologix MIN3 | Cologix, Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Cologix MIN4 | Cologix, Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| DataBank Minneapolis (MSP1) | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| DataBank Minneapolis (MSP2) | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| DataBank Minneapolis (MSP4) | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Duluth Missabe | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| EdgeConneX Minneapolis (EDCMSP01) | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Encompass Minneapolis Facility | — | Mapped (unverified) | Anoka | — |
| Epic / Mayo Data Center | — | Mapped (unverified) | Olmsted | — |
| Implex Minneapolis | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Meta Rosemount | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | Dakota | — |
| Minnesota Gateway Data Center | — | Mapped (unverified) | Hennepin | — |
| NP Belle Plaine (MSP1) | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| NP Rochester | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Project Loon | Alphabet Inc. | Blocked | St. Louis | — |
| Ridgeview Minnetonka | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| SFN MN-Albert Lea | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| SFN MN-Rochester | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| TriTech Center | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| US Internet - Minnetonka | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| US Signal MN01 - Minneapolis | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |
| Verizon - Bloomington Network | Verizon Communications Inc. | Mapped (unverified) | Hennepin | — |
| Zayo Minneapolis - 10300 6th Ave N | — | Mapped (unverified) | — | — |