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Committee advances amended data-center permitting language after hours of debate
Summary
Senate File 1393, carried by Sen. Nick Matthews, would clarify how large data centers and their backup power are reviewed in Minnesota. The committee adopted an author’s amendment addressing environmental-agency concerns, heard extensive testimony both supporting and opposing the measure, and laid the bill over for further work.
Sen. Nick Matthews presented Senate File 1393 on March 12, 2025, seeking to clarify when data centers and their on-site backup generation are subject to Minnesota’s certificate-of-need (CN) process and how local environmental review (the AUAR process) interacts with statewide permitting.
The committee unanimously adopted an author’s amendment (A5) that the Department of Commerce and other agencies reviewed and used to address environmental and permitting concerns. An oral amendment deleting Section 6 of the bill was also adopted. After a multi-hour hearing with dozens of witnesses for and against, the committee laid the bill over for further work; no final committee passage was recorded.
Supporters — including labor unions, the Becker city government, local school officials and Amazon Web Services (AWS) — said the bill provides clarity that will bring…
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