Data Center Registry
Google Hermantown Data Center
Hermantown, St. Louis County, Minnesota · All 53 Google sites · Every Google case on our tracker
Google Hermantown Data Center is a proposed data center in Hermantown, Minnesota (St. Louis County), operated by Google. The public record puts it at 600 MW planned, 234 acres, a reported $650 million investment. It is or has been the subject of litigation over its siting, permitting, or operation.
Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.
What our reporting adds
The base record lists this site as proposed with no reception on record. Our reporting from city emails, county records and two lawsuits sets the reception to in litigation, the planned capacity to the 300 to 600 megawatt range Google gave in August 2026, and adds the abatement, jobs and water terms from the agreements the council tabled.
Facility record
Proposed
- Operator
- Facility type
- Data center
- Location
- Hermantown, St. Louis County, MN
- Coordinates
- 46.8069, -92.2382 (approximate)
- Power capacity
- 600 MW planned
- Land
- 234 acres
- Investment
- $650 million
- Announced
- Not established from a public source
- Utility
- Minnesota Power
- Power source
- Mixed
- Cooling
- Air cooled
- Water use
- Not established from a public source
- Jobs
- 100 permanent; 2,000 construction
- Public subsidy
- Property tax abatement, 85 percent after the first $100,000, 28 years, capped at $80 million in 2052 dollars (about $33.5 million present value), City of Hermantown, 2026
- Community reception
- In litigation
- Source confidence
- Reported by at least one credible outlet or filing
Timeline from the record
Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.
- September 8, 2026CoverageDNR lists concerns on Hermantown data center environmental review · Duluth News Tribune
- August 20, 2026ProposedGoogle scales the plan back to 1.66 million square feet in three buildings, 300 to 600 megawatts, 16 generators.
- May 4, 2026ProposedCouncil tables the tax abatement and development agreements pending the redone review and the lawsuits.
- March 3, 2026ProposedGoogle announces it is the end user. Code name Project Loon. $650 million first phase.
- November 5, 2025ProposedMCEA and Stop the Hermantown Data Center sue over the environmental review.
- October 20, 2025ProposedCity Council rezones the land 4 to 0 after a five hour hearing with more than 300 people in attendance.
- September 23, 2025ProposedMinnesota Star Tribune identifies the 'communication services facility' in the city's environmental review as a data center, from a January 2025 consultant letter obtained by records request.
- September 18, 2024ProposedCity administrator emails colleagues about a data center next to the Minnesota Power substation, a $1 billion investment and 50 plus jobs; the mayor's response was 'wow.' The public was not told for a year.
Opposition and litigation at this site
Yes. Google Hermantown Data Center in Hermantown, St. Louis County, Minnesota is or has been the subject of litigation over its siting, permitting, or operation. Two lawsuits are pending against the City of Hermantown: an environmental review challenge by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Stop the Hermantown Data Center (St.
How the community has taken it
Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: in litigation means the facility is or has been the subject of a lawsuit related to its siting, permitting, or operation.
Two lawsuits are pending against the City of Hermantown: an environmental review challenge by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Stop the Hermantown Data Center (St. Louis County District Court No. 69DU-CV-25-3448, filed November 5, 2025, paused while the review is redone), and a spot zoning and open meetings suit served April 29, 2026. The council rezoned the land 4 to 0 on October 20, 2025 after nearly 70 speakers, mostly opposed, over four hours. City officials and 22 county employees and three commissioners signed nondisclosure agreements with the developer; Google announced their termination on August 17, 2026.
Power and water
Google-Minnesota Power electric service agreement calls for 700MW of new clean energy resources (300MW wind + 400MW battery storage) to serve the campus; Google also committed $5M to Minnesota Power's energy-affordability and efficiency programs for low/moderate-income customers.
Air cooled. Up to 50,000 gallons a day for sanitation and fire suppression, per the city and the developer; the environmental review challenge disputes the estimate.
Public money on the record
| Program | Amount | Granted by | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property tax abatement, 85 percent after the first $100,000, 28 years, capped at $80 million in 2052 dollars (about $33.5 million present value) | $80 million | City of Hermantown | 2026 |
Notes on the record
Listed by Google among its US data centers under development. Google has not published a dedicated location page, capacity, investment figure, or timeline for this site, it appears only on Google's US locations index, so this record is intentionally thin. Coordinates are the Hermantown city centroid (approximate).
Our reporting on this site
- The Hermantown File · Guide
Questions people ask about this site
Is there opposition to the Google Hermantown Data Center in Hermantown?
Yes. Google Hermantown Data Center in Hermantown, St. Louis County, Minnesota is or has been the subject of litigation over its siting, permitting, or operation. Two lawsuits are pending against the City of Hermantown: an environmental review challenge by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Stop the Hermantown Data Center (St.
Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Google Hermantown Data Center?
Yes. This site is recorded as being in litigation. The case, the court, and the filings we hold are listed on this page under the timeline and the sources.
How much water does Google Hermantown Data Center use?
No water withdrawal figure for Google Hermantown Data Center is on record here. Cooling is recorded as air_cooled, which is the strongest available clue: closed loop and air cooled plant draw far less than evaporative cooling. We leave the number blank rather than estimate one.
Who operates Google Hermantown Data Center, and how big is it?
Google is the operator on record. We hold 53 sites for that company across the registry. Capacity on record is 600 MW. The site is recorded at 234 acres.
How to cite this page
SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Google Hermantown Data Center," updated August 24, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/google-hermantown-mn.
Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.32.0 (September 7, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/google-hermantown-mn, retrieved September 14, 2026.
Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.
Sources for this record
As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.
- 1.Google Data Centers, US locations · Google · retrieved August 8, 2026
- 2.Google is behind proposed Hermantown data center · KAXE · retrieved August 24, 2026
- 3.Minnesota Power presents details on proposed data center deal · Fox21online · retrieved August 24, 2026
- 4.Hermantown begins new downsized site review for data center · Duluth News Tribune · retrieved August 24, 2026
- 5.The Hermantown File: two years of records, in order · SueDataCenters.org · retrieved September 5, 2026
- 6.Northeast Minnesota data center wins key approval as hundreds protest · Minnesota Star Tribune · retrieved September 5, 2026
- 7.Legal updates on MCEA's data center cases, No. 69DU-CV-25-3448 · Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy · retrieved September 5, 2026
- 8.More details emerge as Google, Hermantown work out data center agreements · KAXE · retrieved September 5, 2026
- 9.Google scales back proposed data center in northeast Minnesota · Minnesota Star Tribune · retrieved September 5, 2026
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