Colorado company eyes Glencoe expansion after nixing plans for AI data center in southern Minnesota

A Colorado-based company say it’s committing to efforts to build an AI data center in Glencoe, Minn., after a flirtation over the winter with the small town of Mountain Lake.

Revolve Labs, which operates a crypto-mining facility in Glencoe, discussed a deal with the city of Mountain Lake last fall for an AI data center.

The deal would have provided Mountain Lake with $250,000 in utilities revenue for an AI data center to be purchased near the town’s electrical substation, according to city information.

Revolve Labs nixed its Mountain Lake plan a week before a public forum that was set to address questions from the public in mid-February, said city administrator Michael Mueller, who led discussions with the company.

“As of right now, no data center or any facility is coming to Mountain Lake,” Mueller said in a recent phone call. He said he hopes to restart conversations with the company next year.

Jeff St. Onge, senior operations manager at Revolve Labs, confirmed the company paused efforts at Mountain Lake in an email last week.

“The city is making upgrades to the electrical system and will not be ready to provide additional capacity until sometime next year,” St. Onge said.

He said the company is focusing its efforts on expanding its site in Glencoe.

The facility in Glencoe, a flagship site for Revolve Labs, has faced criticism for noise pollution, sparking debates similar to those in Windom, where citizens objected to a proposal from the company last fall.

Last fall, Revolve Labs announced plans for a “potential site design and operation change” in Glencoe that could include a $40 million to $60 million expansion of the company’s facilities.

The expansion is partly motivated by the company’s desire to pivot away from crypto mining to AI data hosting, St. Onge said at a public hearing in October.

Crypto mining uses huge amounts of computing power to solve complex mathematical puzzles and produce cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, a digital currency that can be traded outside the normal banking system. The machines used for these operations operate around the clock and need to be cooled by banks of fans.

AI data centers have servers that critical to services such as medical records, financial transactions, streaming media, navigation apps, email and remote work. But they require a lot of energy, which is already raising concerns about whether they will prolong the burning of fossil fuels for electricity.

Mark Ostlund, city attorney for Glencoe, said he expects Revolve Labs will make progress on finalizing their purchase of a new site on the edge of town within a month or so.

“After that, it’s off to the races,” Ostlund said.