Ellison Warns of Potential Electricity Costs Hike from Proposed Pine Island Data Center

The proposed Google data center in Pine Island, Minnesota, has sparked controversy over its potential impact on local electricity costs. Attorney General Keith Ellison has expressed concerns that the agreement between Google and Xcel Energy may leave other ratepayers, including residential and small business customers, shouldering increased energy costs after the 15-year contract term ends.

Ellison argues that state law requires large customers like Google to pay their own way without adding costs for other customers. He claims that Xcel's agreement with Google does not specifically protect other ratepayers and that the tech giant may terminate its contact early, putting residential and small business ratepayers at risk.

Xcel Energy disputes Ellison's view, stating that it has made it clear that large energy users like data centers must pay their own way without adding costs for other customers or affecting reliability. The power company claims that Google is paying its fair share of existing system costs and funding 1,900 megawatts of new clean energy resources at no cost to existing customers.