Hermantown Sets Data Center Meeting as 70% of Adults Ages 18–29 Oppose New Centers

Hermantown will take up six resolutions tied to Google’s proposed data center Friday, Oct. 30, after protests delayed earlier council action and a national survey found broad opposition to new local data centers.

The meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CDT). City officials will admit up to 85 people in person; spoken public comment is limited to people in the council chambers, and written submissions are due by 1 p.m. ET (noon CDT). The six items match those on the agenda for the canceled Oct. 27 meeting.

The city recessed its Oct. 26 meeting until the next day, citing safety reasons, then canceled the continuation because early voting was using the chambers. Demonstrators delayed council votes during the first session. Project supporters, including union members, also attended, citing expected construction jobs. Sarah Lofald, a board member of Stop the Hermantown Data Center, described the turnout this way: “It was really moving to see people so passionate about their communities, about their environment, about the public process.”

A survey of 1,320 U.S. adult citizens, conducted from June 16 to July 19, found 70% of 213 respondents ages 18–29 opposed new data centers in their area. Eight percent supported construction, while 22% neither supported nor opposed it. The question covered data centers generally, not AI facilities specifically, and did not ask respondents why they opposed them. Across the full sample, 61% opposed new local data centers, compared with 49% in a survey conducted in February and March. The full sample’s margin of error was 3.5 percentage points; margins for subgroups were larger.

In a separate survey of 10,548 U.S. adults conducted from July 20 to Aug. 9, 50% viewed data centers as mostly bad for home energy costs, and 49% viewed them as mostly bad for nearby residents’ quality of life. Those figures reflect respondents’ views, not measured increases in household bills.

The council’s meeting and any vote remain pending for Friday.