The Setting, Elk River, Minnesota — a working community of 28,000 at the edge of the Twin Cities metro. In 2023, a major AI developer secured a 180-acre site for a 200 MW hyperscale campus. Flat land, a high-voltage transmission corridor nearby, favorable tax treatment. They moved fast. What they didn’t do was talk to anyone before the decisions were made.
Without a CDA. The facility’s industrial cooling systems produced constant low-frequency noise registering 58–62 decibels near the closest subdivision — above Minnesota’s nighttime nuisance threshold. The city received 340 noise complaints in 90 days. The developer’s 200 MW load hit a distribution network Xcel Energy hadn’t been asked to prepare for; two nearby industrial employers experienced voltage irregularities serious enough to damage equipment and disrupt operations. Construction traffic destroyed County Road 33, leaving the county holding a $4.2 million repair bill with no responsible party identified.
A community group organized, attorneys were hired, and a contested case was filed with the Minnesota PUC. The project was stalled for almost 2 years in legal issues and the developer spent an estimated $47 million over budget. The community received nothing enforceable. No one won.
With a CDA. Praxis would have engaged six months before any public announcement — mapping stakeholders before anyone was adversarial. The resulting agreement would set a noise standard stricter than the city ordinance, with independent monitoring and automatic remediation triggers. It would create a formal utility coordination table that allowed Xcel to pre-position transformer upgrades 11 months ahead of commissioning. It required a road impact bond before construction began.
The project opened on schedule. No litigation. When Phase 2 was announced, the council voted 5–0 in 11 minutes.
The CDA didn’t slow the project. It saved it.