Google $600 million Minnesota data center project cancelled following regulatory and permitting delays.

Google has cancelled a $600 million datacenter project in Becker, Minnesota, joining Meta in scaling back major infrastructure investments this month. The facility, first announced in 2019, was effectively ended after Google partner Honeycrisp Power failed to file the necessary paperwork for Xcel Energy to provide power for the project, according to the Star Tribune. In response, the Minnesota-based utility terminated its electric service agreements with Google earlier this month. "We are proud to be part of the Minnesota community and remain committed to growing the industry and jobs in the state," a Google spokesperson told The Register. "While this project isn't progressing right now, that doesn't rule out engagement on projects in the future."

The facility would have spanned approximately 300 acres of land, employed 50 permanent workers, and carried a price tag of $600 million when complete. Without electricity to power the datacenter, Google determined the project could not proceed. The company reiterated its hedged position to the Tribune, stating that "while this project isn't progressing right now, that doesn't rule out engagement on projects in the future."

The decision reflects broader financial pressures facing Alphabet, Google's parent company. In Q3, Alphabet's profits declined $6 billion to $13.9 billion, falling well below analyst estimates, though the company still generated over $154 million a day in profit. In response to the weaker-than-expected quarter, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai committed to reevaluating the company's portfolio. "We are reviewing projects at all scales pretty granularly to make sure we have the right plans there, and based on that, the right resourcing and making course corrections," he said. "It is something we'll continue doing going into 2023."

Google is far from alone in cutting infrastructure spending. Earlier this month, Meta terminated two of three datacenters under construction in the Odense region of Denmark and placed a $1.5 billion project in Huntsville, Alabama, on indefinite hold as part of a broader redesign effort. The moves follow Meta's decision to lay off 13 percent of its global workforce and redirect investment toward artificial intelligence to extract more value from its core advertising business and advance its vision for the Metaverse.