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Over the past year University of Minnesota researchers from the Hubert H. Humphrey School, the Law School and UMN Extension have collaborated with Freshwater, as well as city administrators from the Southeast communities of Byron, Stewartville and Lewiston, to develop research-backed tools for local governments in Southeast Minnesota.
These tools aim to provide basic information on:
Data centers and related energy/water impacts
The regulatory environment around data center development
Addressing data centers in local codes
Questions to ask to understand feasibility during inquiries or development processes
Understanding community priorities to inform responses to development inquiries
This event is a release of the final tool kit, which contains transparent information about what we know to date about the impacts of data centers as large-scale resource users on energy and water systems, with a regional focus on Southeast Minnesota. The team will share the tool kit and introduce attendees to ways they might use it to answer their – and their constituents' – questions about data centers, water and energy resource use.
Deadline for registration is Tuesday, October 6, 2026. Attendance will be capped at 80 due to room capacity.
