HF 16/SF 19 was introduced into today’s special session of the Minnesota legislature. It’s one of 14 bills that will be passed today (or tomorrow morning) as part of the budget deal to keep state government open for the next two years.
Framed as a tax bill, it provides additional regulations on the construction and operation of computer data centers in Minnesota and addresses some of the drawbacks with such projects, that can involve multi-billion-dollar investments.
The eighteen-page bill includes 18 sections. Sections 3 and 4 address excessive water use by the facilities. Section 7 defines the term “data center,”
“Data center” means a facility that is designed to have a load of 100 megawatts or more and whose primary purpose is the storage, management, and processing of digital data via the interconnection and operation of information technology and network telecommunications equipment, including all related facilities and infrastructure for backup electricity generation, power distribution, environmental control, cooling, and security.
Section 16 imposes a new fee on large data centers ranging from $2 million to 5 million, annually. Section 17 imposes union wage requirements on data centers.
Section 18 extends standard sales tax exemptions typically granted to wholesale equipment buyers to data centers.
Incentives to locate and operate data centers in Minnesota were not included in the bill.