Oct 9, 2026 · 16 min · 6 segments
Marc Telecky of Mcleod County Environmental Services joins Joel to continue their talk about Solar Gardens and Data Centers.
But it, it, it is, it is good to have, uh, good to have hockey back, and, and, uh, it is, uh, good to talk something different because we're gonna continue our, our highly rated series on, uh, data centers and, uh, solar gardens.
Uh, 'cause we've, we've talked a lot about this this ye- may- maybe 2026, y- you know, when it's all said and done, 'cause we're getting toward the end of the year here, might be the year of the data center.
I mean, they're, they're really popping up all over the place, including in this area.
I'm not advocating for any news station, whether it's, you know, NBC on Channel 11, or ABC Channel 5, or Channel 4, or whatever the local stations are.
Couple days ago, you know, they just talked about, uh, you know, public hearing in, up in Monticello for a data center.
So they've been in The Cities, they've been down in, in the southern part of the state, and, you know, Worthington had a very large project proposal.
And, you know, when these things came about, you know, a lot of people were thinking strictly on the side of the environmental impact, you know, the water usage for these, um, you know, if they are cooling with water, you know? S- so the data center piece itself, um, is kinda secondary, right? So, um, y- you know, the longer, the longer I'm in this [laughs] and you see this, especially when we talk about this at the state level, um, you know, for the last two to three years we saw a really, a large increase in not only discussion, but, um, property owners that are being approached from large companies for solar projects.
And, uh, from my perspective, um, it didn't take long to figure out that obviously these are op-connected, right?
So when you do the, you know, geographic piece, you know, they're, they're fairly close to each other.
Well, these data centers, one of the biggest things is, is they, they need the power supply.
And, uh, the fastest way to create power really is through s- renewable, 'cause it's one of your quickest build-outs, uh, to create power.
Not, not that I'm advocating one way or the other, that's just the reality of it.
So we are seeing, w- you know, McLeod County specifically, we're not a very big county, 504 square miles, so it's not very large county in comparison to some.
But, um, you know, we have two projects that I'm aware of that they've approached me on, um, asking, you know ...
Or, I shouldn't say asking, sharing details because the projects will be over mega- 80 megawatts on the solar production side, which the county does not have control of.
They do not have permitting authority, and that's one of the reasons why, um, coming into today I asked that we talk about this a little bit, because I'm starting to get quite a few phone calls from property owners.
They are being approached by, by agents representing large companies that are trying to do this build-out.
And the threshold for large solar is 80 megawatts, and solar in McLeod County, if it's under that 80-megawatt threshold, uh, we will be the permitting authority.
I'm fairly confident to say that we will keep that authority and, and use our standards and ordinance.
But it, it, it is, it is good to have, uh, good to have hockey back, and, and, uh, it is, uh, good to talk something different because we're gonna continue our, our highly rated series on, uh, data centers and, uh, solar gardens.
Uh, 'cause we've, we've talked a lot about this this ye- may- maybe 2026, y- you know, when it's all said and done, 'cause we're getting toward the end of the year here, might be the year of the data center.
I mean, they're, they're really popping up all over the place, including in this area.
I'm not advocating for any news station, whether it's, you know, NBC on Channel 11, or ABC Channel 5, or Channel 4, or whatever the local stations are.
Couple days ago, you know, they just talked about, uh, you know, public hearing in, up in Monticello for a data center.
So they've been in The Cities, they've been down in, in the southern part of the state, and, you know, Worthington had a very large project proposal.
And, you know, when these things came about, you know, a lot of people were thinking strictly on the side of the environmental impact, you know, the water usage for these, um, you know, if they are cooling with water, you know? S- so the data center piece itself, um, is kinda secondary, right? So, um, y- you know, the longer, the longer I'm in this [laughs] and you see this, especially when we talk about this at the state level, um, you know, for the last two to three years we saw a really, a large increase in not only discussion, but, um, property owners that are being approached from large companies for solar projects.
And, uh, from my perspective, um, it didn't take long to figure out that obviously these are op-connected, right?
So when you do the, you know, geographic piece, you know, they're, they're fairly close to each other.
Well, these data centers, one of the biggest things is, is they, they need the power supply.
And, uh, the fastest way to create power really is through s- renewable, 'cause it's one of your quickest build-outs, uh, to create power.
Not, not that I'm advocating one way or the other, that's just the reality of it.
So we are seeing, w- you know, McLeod County specifically, we're not a very big county, 504 square miles, so it's not very large county in comparison to some.
But, um, you know, we have two projects that I'm aware of that they've approached me on, um, asking, you know ...
Or, I shouldn't say asking, sharing details because the projects will be over mega- 80 megawatts on the solar production side, which the county does not have control of.
They do not have permitting authority, and that's one of the reasons why, um, coming into today I asked that we talk about this a little bit, because I'm starting to get quite a few phone calls from property owners.
They are being approached by, by agents representing large companies that are trying to do this build-out.
And the threshold for large solar is 80 megawatts, and solar in McLeod County, if it's under that 80-megawatt threshold, uh, we will be the permitting authority.
I'm fairly confident to say that we will keep that authority and, and use our standards and ordinance.
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