Eagan City Council is poised to hit pause on new data centers and commercial cryptocurrency-mining operations, with a proposed one-year moratorium up for a vote at its meeting on Tuesday. If approved, the temporary halt would block city approval of any new facilities or expansions while staff study zoning, water use, and power needs. The moratorium would run through Feb. 17, 2027, and council members plan to take public comment before voting.
As reported by FOX 9, the ordinance on the table would stop the city from approving applications for any new data center or crypto-mining operation, or expansions to existing centers, for one year. During that time, the city would conduct a study to figure out how best to regulate, locate, and permit these high-consumption facilities. The station notes that the council is scheduled to vote on the moratorium at Tuesday’s meeting.
The City Council meets on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, and the meeting packet lists the moratorium as an item for discussion, with a listening session set before the regular session, per the City of Eagan. Residents who want to speak can attend in person at the municipal center or follow the meeting online, according to the city's meetings page.
Why Eagan Is Pausing Proposals
Minnesota has become a magnet for data-center projects in recent years, and communities are wrestling with the strain those facilities put on local power, water and permitting systems. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has documented a surge of proposed hyperscale sites around the Twin Cities, and utilities and developers are already lining up transmission upgrades to serve major projects such as Meta's Rosemount campus. Opponents argue these facilities consume large amounts of electricity and water while delivering relatively few long-term local jobs compared with the infrastructure and environmental tradeoffs.
At the state level, lawmakers moved in 2025 to revise tax and regulatory rules for data centers, which includes changes that removed the sales-tax exemption for electricity used by qualifying facilities and increased pressure on cities to set local standards. Details of that package are summarized by the Minnesota House. That shift has pushed more decisions back to municipalities and utilities and sharpened public scrutiny.
What To Expect At Tuesday's Meeting
On Tuesday, the council is slated to take public comment, hear staff presentations about the proposed ordinance and then hold a vote. If the moratorium passes, planning staff will be tasked with drafting zoning and permitting language during the yearlong pause. Meeting information and the agenda packet are available on the city's website for residents who want to follow along or attend in person, per the City of Eagan.
Whether Eagan's pause becomes law or not, the council's move lands squarely in a growing wave of local scrutiny over data centers in Minnesota and beyond. That trend has already produced heated public meetings in places such as Hermantown and Farmington, as FOX 9 has reported. Supporters say the moratorium is a chance to get rules in place that protect water, power and neighborhood character; opponents warn tighter local rules could chill investment.
