Last week, residents learned a little bit about the big news of the possible Google data center coming to Becker. What could the disclosure could mean to the Becker area?

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Questions like, “what is a data center?”, “How many jobs will come to Becker?” and “Why is Becker in the running?” were some of the inquiries we had for Becker City and DEED.

 

According to Shane Delaney at the Minnesota Dept. of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), a data center is a large group of networked servers typically used by companies for storage, processing and distribution of large amounts of data. 

 

“The project represents an estimated total $600M investment, creating a conservative minimum of 50 new technology jobs, with an aggregate collective salary of $4 million,” he said.

 

City Administrator Greg Pruszinske said Becker is the only city in the State of Minnesota Google is considering, as far as he knows.

 

“This is something we’ve been working on for quite some time and it’ll continue to be an important project to focus on,” he said. “We don’t know how many sites we are competing with or where they are located. However, we are confident the Becker site is a stand out property.”

 

From reports, the initial meeting occurred over two years ago between a prospective client, Xcel Energy and the city. The local team has been working diligently to attract the data center to Minnesota ever since.

 

The partners promoted the site and the fact the data center would have a river nearby, rail service, easy access to highways and a surplus of land around Sherco available for the center.

 

Google has been resolute in using renewable energy to power their new center and Sherco just might be ideal.

 

“Although we don’t know the main criteria that the company compares in their site selection process, we have demonstrated that the Becker community has many great assets already in the ground, including Hwy. 10 and I-94, the Mississippi River, the Sherco and Monticello power generating facilities, available property, and Becker’s location between St. Cloud and the Twin Cities,” said Becker Community Director Marie Pflipsen.

 

Delaney says he is unsure how many other cities in the United States are in the running for the center and the timeline to break ground is up in the air. Google, based out of California, may find the Midwest to be an ideal landing spot for this major expansion.

 

“Demand for data storage continues to rise globally,” says Delaney. “Minnesota is already home to a number of data centers for various companies. Our reputation in this area allows Minnesota to be positioned as part of this company’s network of global facilities.”

 

“We don’t know how many communities we are competing with nationwide, so it’s hard to gauge the chances of Becker landing the data center,” said  Pflipsen.  “We want to make sure we put our best foot forward and show the company that we are the best location for their project.”

 

Last week it was reported the data center project could create nearly 2,000 construction jobs in Sherburne County for the construction of the data center, the solar, wind and gas plants, etc. Also, the center itself would house around 50 tech jobs. Also mentioned, was the 1,300 jobs ignited by the new data center.

 

“Those additional jobs would be created from the increased economic activity the data center would bring to the state,” Delaney said.

 

Pflipsen says the news of the data center is escalating, but the process to make the project doable is still a work in progress and may take quite a while to nail down. Recently, Xcel Energy submitted a filing to the Public Utilities Commission for the project and they anticipate to hear from the PUC no later than June.

 

“This is an incredible boon for Becker and could help us overcome the losses we see with the shutting down of Units 1 & 2 at Sherco,” said Pruszinske. “It’s really exciting news and we are going to work hard to convince them this is their best choice.”