Minneapolis St. Paul, MN, October 15, 2026 —

The Minneapolis City Planning Commission has advanced new regulations intended to control the size, noise and location of data centers within the city. The move comes amid resident opposition and continued consideration of the potential economic benefits of placing data centers in vacant downtown properties.

Many residents have expressed anger over the decision and concern about the potential impacts of the facilities. The specific impacts they fear were not provided, and details about the residents’ comments or the number of people who opposed the regulations are unavailable.

The city is also weighing possible economic benefits associated with data centers and vacant downtown properties. No estimates of those benefits, details about specific properties, or information about proposed data center projects were provided. The available information does not establish how the city is balancing those considerations against residents’ concerns.

The regulations are described as addressing three areas: facility size, noise and location. Specific limits, standards or other provisions were not provided, so the scope of the rules cannot be detailed. The commission’s vote count and the date of its decision were also not included.

Advancing the regulations is the reported action; the available information does not say whether they have received final approval or when they might take effect. It also does not identify any next steps in the process. Those details would clarify how the proposed controls could apply to future data centers and how the city’s consideration of potential downtown economic benefits will proceed.


Story summarized from the original created by By Shay Scanlan on www.minnpost.com, see more information here.

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