Field Notes

Data Center on the ballot 🗳️ + CURE sues BOP ⚖️ + PUC Orders REC to Stop ⚡️ + Ag drainage lawsuit dismissed 💧 + GRE IRP lowdown 🤔

No Tax Breaks For Big Tech projection with MN Capitol in the background

🗳 Data Centers are on the ballot this November

This election season ask candidates where they stand on data centers. Will they support strong statewide rules to protect our water, demand transparency, end tax breaks, require clean energy from the start, and give local communities a real voice? Minnesota’s 2025 data center law fell short. In 2027, lawmakers must pass comprehensive data center regulations that put Minnesotans first.

Who you elect matters. We need data center laws that put people first, not Big Tech. Learn more.

⚖️ CURE sues U.S. Bureau of Prisons over FOIA fail

Prairie Correctional Facility

Seven months after CURE filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons still has not produced records related to a 2014 environmental review of the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton. With plans moving forward to reopen the prison as an immigration detention center, CURE has filed a federal lawsuit to force the release of documents that could reveal environmental and community impacts. Read more.

⚡PUC to MN Valley REC: Stop Upper Sioux Disconnection Threats

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission unanimously ruled that Minnesota Valley Cooperative Light & Power Association based in Montevideo acted unlawfully when it threatened to disconnect the Upper Sioux Community over its behind the meter solar and battery project. Commissioners also criticized the electric co-op’s leadership over “bad behavior” and urged members to hold the board accountable. Read more.

💧 Ag drainage lawsuit dismissed

Rapidan Dam

A judge has ruled that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) does not have authority to regulate pollution from public agricultural drainage systems, infrastructure that aids crop production but funnels significant water pollution into Minnesota’s lakes, rivers, streams, and drinking water. CURE believes the decision gets it wrong. Rural communities should not be left paying for washed out roads, eroding riverbanks, and contaminated drinking water. Read more.

🤔 GRE Integrated Resource Plan: The Good, The Bad, The Confusing

Natural Gas Plant with Wind Turbine

Great River Energy’s latest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is a mixed bag. Pros: More wind power and a planned phaseout of coal by 2031. Cons: Major new investment in natural gas plants, driven largely by rising demand from proposed data center development. But big questions remain about future electricity demand forecasts, energy storage plans, and why smaller-scale solar and industrial demand response received so little attention. Read more.

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Kelsey Olson

Kelsey Olson

Director of Environmental Stewardship

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Kelsey Olson (she/her) joined CURE in 2025 as its Director of Environmental Stewardship. As a skilled environmental naturalist, Kelsey’s work focuses broadly on environmental education and advocacy with a keen focus on rural land use and how that use impacts our environment and climate. Working Lands, how land is used to support agriculture and forestry, is a key focus of her work. She brings 15 years’ experience in public communication, environmental education, and rural community engagement – strong communication strategies are core in her work. This includes two terms of service with AmeriCorps in the VISTA program in Oregon and Maryland and a nearly 10-year career as a naturalist followed. She recently worked on communications and marketing for rural economic development.

Kelsey lives in New London, MN, with her young children, husband, dog, and two cats. They enjoy spending time together outside and finding small treasures in nature. Visits to Minneapolis often include visits to one of their favorite historical museums, the American Swedish Institute. Kelsey enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, canning local produce, and making kombucha.