🗳 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.
MN PUC Commissioners urge electric co-op members to use their power to rein in Minnesota Valley leadership’s “bad behavior” After two years of delays, threats, and legal battles, the Upper Sioux Community (Community) achieved a significant victory last week when the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) ruled that Minnesota Valley Cooperative Light & Power Association
Great River Energy (GRE) is helping move Minnesota toward a cleaner energy future, but its current proposed plan still has room for improvement. GRE is a generation and transmission energy cooperative that supplies electricity to approximately 1.7 million Minnesotans across roughly two-thirds of the state’s geography. As an electric cooperative (co-op), GRE is self-governed by
In a recent decision, a Minnesota judge accepted the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) argument that it does not have the authority to regulate public agricultural drainage systems, infrastructure that aids crop production but funnels significant water pollution into Minnesota’s lakes, rivers, streams, and drinking water. Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro’s said in
🏛 Unfinished work: Data Center Laws MN Needs Minnesota’s 2025 data center law left major gaps that put communities, water, and local decision-making at risk. As lawmakers look ahead to the 2027 session, CURE is calling for stronger protections: a statewide permitting process, full environmental review, clean energy requirements, water use transparency, community safeguards, limits
Data Center Laws 🏛️ + Talon Nickel Mine 💧+ Silver Rapids ⚠️ Read More »
People in Appleton deserve to know the foreseeable impacts of reopening the Prairie Correctional Facility CURE has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for failing to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In January 2026, CURE submitted a request to BOP for information related to a 2014 environmental and economic
U.S. Bureau of Prisons fails to fulfill FOIA request for 7+ months. CURE sues. Read More »
Hyperscale data centers’ real-world resource demands impact many aspects of our lives: energy, water, air, noise, light, land use, public trust, and the economy, to name a few. Yet Minnesota’s so-called “nation-leading” data center law passed in 2025 only addresses energy and some economics—namely taxes—leaving communities around the state scrambling to understand and address the laundry list of potential negative impacts, virtually on their own. If hyperscale data centers plan to operate in Minnesota, our communities need these legal protections at a minimum.
Data Center Laws Minnesota Needs Read More »
Data Center coming to your community? 👉 Start here. As big tech backed data center proposals keep popping up across Minnesota, more people are asking questions, getting organized, and stepping into local leadership. CURE’s new Local Action Hub gives communities the tools, videos, resources, and real-world stories they need to understand what’s at stake and
A loophole called “piggybacking” lets large industrial water users rely on municipal permits instead of getting their own, shifting liability and consequences onto local communities. Hyperscale data centers are the latest industry trying this maneuver. As Elko New Market shows, the impacts don’t go away—someone else just gets stuck paying the price.
No More Piggyback Rides: The Loophole That Lets Big Water Users Avoid Accountability Read More »
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is currently accepting public comments on the Magellan / ONEOK Pipestone pipeline project (PUC Docket No. IP-7109/PPL-23-109), a proposed reroute of an 8-inch diameter gasoline and refined petroleum products pipeline that has been shut off since 2022. The reroute skirts the Pipestone National Monument, a site of importance to
No pipeline near the Pipestone National Monument Read More »
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.
