Today, on the floor of the MN House of Representatives, HF 308 was introduced, which would allow for the construction of new nuclear generators in Minnesota up to a capacity of 300 MW.
The bill is chief authored by state Rep. Shane Mekeland (R-27A, Clear Lake) along with nine House co-authors. Mekeland is a member of the House Energy Committee.

The companion bill, SF 468, was introduced on Tuesday. Its chief author, Sen. Andrew Mathews (R-27, Princeton), currently serves as co-Chair of the Senate energy committee.
SF 468 and a similar bill (SF 350, Mathews) are scheduled for committee hearings on Monday, January 27.
We’ve been tracking another bill (HF 9), which lifts the nuclear moratorium without a cap on unit size. That bill was approved by House Energy and sent on to the House Committee on Taxes.
The Senate companion bill to HF 9 (SF 572) was introduced today and is also authored by Sen. Mathews.
As we’ve been documenting, the renewed interest in nuclear power is being driven in no small part by the boom in data centers. But not everyone is excited to be neighbors to these massive computer server farms.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports on another bill expected to be introduced at the state legislature,
Minnesota lawmaker introduces bill that could restrict new data center construction
The lawmaker is state Sen. Bill Lieske (R-58, Lonsdale) and the concern arises from proposed data centers in the Farmington area of Dakota County. The Pioneer Press,
The project, called the Farmington Technology Park, could result in up to 12 data center buildings totaling over 2.5 million square feet. Tract, the developer for the project, said at full buildout the project could approach $5 billion.
For scale, 2.5 million square feet, spread flat, would cover over 57 acres. Lieske is seeking to steer data center projects to areas zoned for industrial use.
The House companion bill (HF 245) was introduced today by Sen. Lieske’s seatmate, state Rep. Drew Roach (R-58B, Farmington).
No committee hearings have been scheduled, as of yet.