Becker is a city in Sherburne County, Minnesota, between the Mississippi and Elk Rivers. The population was 4,877 at the 2020 census.
Becker is located 46 miles northwest of Minneapolis and 19 miles southeast of St. Cloud. U.S. Highway 10 serves as a main route in Becker.
The city is home to the Sherburne County Generating Station (Sherco) which accounted for 77% of the city's tax base in 2019 and two thirds of taxes generated for the city in 2023. A post office called Becker has been in operation since 1870.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ; 9.1sq. mi is land and is water.
Business
Xcel Energy operates the Sherburne County Generating Station (Sherco) within the city. This plant is the largest coal-fired power plant in Minnesota. Because the power plant pays a large amount in property taxes, Becker residents pay considerably less in property taxes than in nearby communities. The city has relied on property taxes from the power plant with about 2/3 of the cities taxes coming from the plant. There have been proposals to close portions of the power plant since 2015 and the city has worked to develop plans should that property tax revenue fall. In 2023, Becker successfully lobbied the Minnesota legislature for aid in expectation of reduced taxes.
Becker Minnesota's zip code, 55308, was listed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in 2020 as the state's largest single source of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) equivalent emissions from 'air permitted facilities'. Sherco operator Excel Energy has announced plans to close the plants by the end of the decade.
Google originally planned to build a data center in Becker, the company would've become one of Xcel Energy's largest customers. Although Google ended up backing out in late 2022. Instead on February 12th 2024 Microsoft ended up buying 300 acres of land originally planned for the Google site. Microsoft will be building a data center in this area, the time period is unknown at this time.
In late February 2020, firefighters responded to a report of a fire at Northern Metals Recycling in Becker. Northern Metals Recycling moved its operations from Minneapolis to Becker the year before, after being ordered to shut down by the Pollution Control Agency due to high levels of air pollution. The fire was reported to have started under a pile of cars. The fire lasted several days, and caused schools to close in order to conduct air quality testing. More than three dozen fire departments were reported to have been on scene. Eventually, it was decided in tandem with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health that the best course of action would be to let the fire burn out. This decision was also influenced by the fact that water resources were being quickly depleted from Becker and the neighboring vicinity.