Xcel Energy sells Becker land to mystery company behind $1B data center

Xcel Energy has sold off land at its Sherco site in Becker to a company planning to invest $1 billion into a data center, company officials said. 

The buyer is known only as Elk River Technologies, which some have speculated could be a shell company tied to a larger corporation. 

In a statement, Xcel Energy said the land sale moves the data center project, which was first disclosed in 2022, "one step forward." 

"The project represents a $1 billion capital investment in the Becker community and stands to create 100 high-paying permanent jobs as well as more than 1,200 construction jobs," the statement reads. 

The nearby Sherco coal-fired power plant is being decommissioned in stages, alongside Xcel's development of the Upper Midwest's largest solar energy project and the addition of new transmission lines. 

"The data center is an exciting addition to the wide range of other projects planned for the Becker area," Xcel Energy shared, adding its ongoing projects make the site a "nexus of the clean energy transition." 

Xcel Energy has also sold land in Becker to Microsoft for a new data center. 

In February, MPR News reported that 295-acre swath of land sold for about $17.7 million. 

In Rosemount, Facebook owner Meta plans to build an $800 million data center, which is expected to begin operations in 2026.