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Cure, a citizens advocacy group, has petitioned the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) to investigate whether Minnesota Power disclosed its knowledge of a proposed hyperscale data center in Hermantown. The group argues that the potential electric demand from the data center could impact customer rates, especially amid rising AI power consumption.

Minnesota Power contends discussions about the data center, known as Project Loon, were preliminary and should not influence its acquisition by private equity investors, including BlackRock and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, approved by the MPUC in October. Cure highlighted that Minnesota Power representatives were involved in discussions about the project before it became public. The MPUC will soon decide whether to reevaluate the acquisition based on Cure's petition and Minnesota Power's response, which asserts that regulatory oversight will protect customer interests.