For the second year in a row, the Colorado state Legislature has failed to enact policy to regulate data centers. Elected officials in localities across Colorado are rightfully taking matters into their own hands, but priorities of local elected officials vary. Some residents of the state are feeling unheard by those who represent them.

While local governments can and should implement policy to regulate data centers, particularly with regard to industrial zoning and local nuisance ordinances, the state’s inaction leaves communities vulnerable to the negative impacts of data centers that are not as easily regulated at the local level, including climate impacts, water usage, and energy infrastructure concerns.

Image

Coloradans largely are in opposition to uncontrolled, resource-intensive growth of the data center industry, and we need legislators to act in our best interest. As the demand for artificial intelligence and computing power increases, the stress on energy and water resources must be properly assessed to safeguard communities, and the threat of increased climate pollution must be averted.

Evidence of the negative effects of data centers is mounting, not just in Colorado, but across the country and the globe. Residents living near data centers across the country are seeing their electricity rates increase as public utilities invest in expanding energy infrastructure to meet the demand of data centers. Climate initiatives are being compromised, as data center development takes priority over renewable energy development in some regions. Concerns about water use by data centers is particularly resonant for Coloradans as much of the Western U.S. faces severe and worsening drought conditions. And to top things off, data centers are simply a public nuisance — they’re loud, brightly-lit 24 hours a day, and frequently use diesel generators that emit pollutants and contribute to even more noise for nearby communities.

While the negative impacts are being observed and recorded across the country, the true and full scale of rapid data center growth is largely unknown, and so far, current policy has not kept up. Local zoning often does not account for power-hungry industrial sites that operate through all hours of the day and night with minimal staff on site, and it will take time for individual communities to evaluate the impact of specific sites and permits. There are questions about the true values reported for energy demand, job creation, and water usage, prompting elected officials to introduce moratoriums at all levels of government to properly evaluate the issue and associated policy solutions.

Image

Legislators in Colorado have stalled and delayed progress while opposition to the industry is growing at the grassroots level in communities across the state. Several coalitions have formed or shifted their focus to opposing data center development in cities such as Denver and Colorado Springs. In some cases, such as in Longmont and Monument, local elected officials have heard their constituents and acted quickly to permanently or temporarily restrict data center developments.

In others, such as Denver, elected officials imposed a moratorium to evaluate the issue, but only after a massive co-location project was planned and approved for the city’s most polluted ZIP code. Even worse, Colorado Springs commissioners approved Project Taurus and denied five appeals, despite swaths of residents showing up to speak out against the massive project.

Nonetheless, there are Colorado residents who are in support of data centers, particularly pro-business leaders and skilled labor unions, due to the allure of potential economic benefits and job creation. However, the economic benefit is still unknown for Colorado, and estimates in other states were found to be inflated, providing less state revenue and fewer permanent jobs than expected. The vast majority of jobs created by data centers are temporary construction jobs, lasting only 12-24 months, and the handful of permanent roles are often filled by third-party contractors, especially in co-location facilities like Denver’s CoreSite facility.

Image

With so few permanent positions for local workers, large data centers take up space that could be used by industries that provide a greater number of permanent and local jobs. Construction jobs can be provided from a number of industries, including in the development of renewable energy resources. If data centers were required to invest in and be supplied by renewable energy sources, job creation would be far more substantial and longer lasting.

If state legislators and local elected officials fail to come to any kind of compromise to protect Colorado’s constituents, economy and ecosystem, what options are the voters left with? Would they take it to the ballot box? A ballot initiative would be reflective of the will of the people, but it could also be awfully more restrictive than the current concessions communities are requesting from lawmakers.

Take Port Washington, Wisconsin, as an example. These voters passed an initiative to require voter approval before tax incentives are granted for data center development. Monterey Park, California, voters took things even further, passing a permanent and complete ban on data centers in their city. What would the people of Colorado decide, if put to a vote? Do legislators want to risk it?

Given that lawmakers, developers, and some local governments feel data center development is important for economic growth and prosperity, they would be wise to take action now to give the public the protections they want.