Bemidji MN one-year data center moratorium (2026)

Bemidji, Minn. (Beltrami County) — ONE-YEAR MORATORIUM adopted by the BEMIDJI PLANNING BOARD on a 6-1 VOTE at its SEPTEMBER 14, 2026 meeting. OPERATIVE SCOPE, TWO ASYMMETRIC THRESHOLDS: (1) prohibits NEW DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENTS EXCEEDING 10,000 SQUARE FEET within Bemidji's city limits; (2) EXTENDS TO CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING FACILITIES OF ANY SIZE — no floor. The size-graduated approach places this with the MW- and square-foot-threshold cohort rather than the flat bans; the any-size crypto carve-in is the distinguishing feature and reflects a judgment that small crypto-mining loads carry grid and acoustic impacts disproportionate to their footprint. PURPOSE: Bemidji city staffers have ONE YEAR to craft an ordinance specific to data center development. PROCEDURAL ANOMALY FLAGGED, NOT RESOLVED: the acting body is the PLANNING BOARD and the source states the September 14 vote 'was the final action to prohibit development.' Under MINN. STAT. § 462.355 SUBD. 4 the interim-ordinance power belongs to THE GOVERNING BODY (the city council), which may adopt an interim ordinance for up to 12 MONTHS while conducting a study, and the statute caps the total at that 12-month period. TWO READINGS ARE POSSIBLE: the Planning Board exercised a delegated or independent zoning power, or the source has compressed a recommendation-plus-council-adoption sequence into one vote. THE SOURCE DOES NOT RESOLVE THIS and this entry does not either — see notes. DURATION IS AT THE STATUTORY CEILING, NOT OVER IT: one year equals the § 462.355 subd. 4 maximum, unlike the multi-year terms flagged elsewhere in this dataset. ORIGIN: the measure was first discussed in AUGUST 2026, following a FEBRUARY 2026 NEWS REPORT THAT INACCURATELY INCLUDED BEMIDJI ON A LIST OF PLANNED DATA CENTERS IN MINNESOTA — a regulatory response triggered by an erroneous report rather than by an actual proposal, which is a documented instance of the sector's reputational dynamics producing law. expires_date IS COMPUTED as one year from the vote and is NOT stated in the source.