A Minnesota city voted 3-2 to block a data center this morning — even with a developer threatening $150 million in damages. Here's everything that happened on June 26, 2026.
🚨 **COMMUNITY** — Inver Grove Heights, MN City Council voted 3-2 to impose a one-year moratorium on data center construction on June 26. The packed meeting erupted in jeers before a five-minute recess was called. Developer T5 Data Centers had already sent a letter threatening $150M+ in damages if its 55,000 sq ft, 5 MW project was halted. The city retained the League of Minnesota Cities to defend the vote.
⚖️ **LEGAL** — On the same day, in Dowagiac, Michigan, Hyperscale Data Inc. completed the acquisition of 48.5 additional acres — doubling its campus to 83 acres and planning up to 3,000 MW of capacity — even while facing a class action lawsuit from neighbors over unbearable noise from the existing 30 MW facility.
🏛️ **POLICY** — Minneapolis City Council passed its own 5-month moratorium on new data center development the same Friday. The Twin Cities metro now has two active moratoria, part of a national wave spanning 69+ local governments from Denver to Baltimore.
💧 **WATER** — In Virginia — home to the world's largest data center concentration — extreme drought has forced all data centers to comply with the same mandatory water restrictions as residents and businesses. One-third of the state is under extreme drought; Gov. Abigail Spanberger is urging conservation.
🤖 **AI/TECH** — Qualcomm unveiled a new AI-optimized data center CPU this week and signed Meta Platforms as its inaugural major customer. Meta runs nearly 2 million servers globally. Analysts say hyperscalers are diversifying away from NVIDIA as supply and pricing pressure mount.
🏗️ **NEW BUILD** — CloudBurst Data Centers broke ground on a 1.2 GW flagship campus in Texas. Texas is positioning itself to overtake Virginia as the top U.S. data center hub, with a deregulated grid and more permissive regulatory environment.
💰 **INVESTMENT** — The largest data center acquisition in history is nearing its close: a $40B purchase of Aligned Data Centers by a consortium including BlackRock, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Elon Musk's xAI, MGX of Abu Dhabi, and the Kuwait Investment Authority. Aligned has 50+ campuses and over 5 GW of capacity across the Americas.
⚡ **POWER** — A new analysis finds that two-thirds of the 809 planned U.S. data center projects are being built in areas already experiencing drought conditions. Per the U.S. Drought Monitor, 63% of the country is currently under some form of drought.
