{"id":35672,"date":"2026-06-06T05:51:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T12:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/judge-halts-google-data-center-project-in-minnesota\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T05:51:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T12:51:31","slug":"judge-halts-google-data-center-project-in-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/judge-halts-google-data-center-project-in-minnesota\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge halts Google data center project in Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?313321260226\" alt=\"-\"><br \/>\n        Listen to the article<\/p>\n<p>            <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">2 min<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/text-to-speech.divecdn.com\/newspost\/822152\/2026-06-05_12.54.06\/judge-halts-google-data-center-project.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Dive Brief:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>A Minnesota judge halted construction activity on a Google <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/legalectric.org\/f\/2026\/05\/MCRO_25-CV-25-2298_Order-Granting-Motion_2026-05-22_20260526143544.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>data center campus<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> in Pine Island, Minnesota, according to a May 22 temporary restraining order sought by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>Goodhue County District Court Judge Patrick Biren found the environmental group\u2019s challenge raised sufficient questions about whether the environmental review process on the project complied with state requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>The ruling pauses work on the proposed 482-acre campus, dubbed Project Skyway, that would include at least 100 acres of data center development, according to the court document. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dive Insight:<\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos., the general contractor on the project, estimates delays to the project could cost the firm about $5 million or more, according to the order.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWe are currently reviewing the judge\u2019s order in detail to determine our next steps,\u201d Ryan Cos. said in a statement.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Google announced in February its <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/innovation-and-ai\/infrastructure-and-cloud\/global-network\/data-center-pine-island\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>investment into Pine Island<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, according to a news release. Xcel Energy announced the same day it would <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.xcelenergy.com\/news\/xcel-energy-to-power-new-google-data-center-in-minnesota\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>power the new data center<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>. Neither firm disclosed the total project cost.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>A key issue in the dispute revolves around whether the project should undergo additional environmental review procedures, according to the order.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cMCEA argues Project Skyway could be built without adequate environmental review,\u201d the order states. \u201cFurther, MCEA\u2019s challenge to the environmental review process would be moot if construction begins.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The court also expressed concern about the handling of records requests under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. If construction moves forward, MCEA would have \u201cno opportunity to review the data requested that is determined to be required to be disclosed.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cMCEA has made a showing of possible success on the merits,\u201d according to the court document. \u201cThis factor, therefore, favors granting the [temporary restraining order.]\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/judge-halts-google-data-center-project\/822152\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 2 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive &#8230; <a title=\"Judge halts Google data center project in Minnesota\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/judge-halts-google-data-center-project-in-minnesota\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Judge halts Google data center project in Minnesota\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}