Push to ban data centers continues
The Windward Planning Commission on Thursday deferred action until October on a bill intended to ban artificial intelligence data centers.
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The Windward Planning Commission on Thursday deferred action until October on a bill intended to ban artificial intelligence data centers.
Bill 170 was forwarded to Planning Director Jeff Darrow and both the windward and leeward commissions by the Hawaii County Council’s Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use and Economic Development for review before it is returned for consideration by the full council.
The vote Thursday was 4-0, with Chairman Louis Daniele III and commissioners JoNelle Fukushima, Tom Fratinardo and Paul Montz voting to defer. Vice Chair Chantel Perrin and commissioners Lauren Balog and Kanoe Wilson were absent and excused.
The measure, introduced by Hamakua Councilwoman Heather Kimball, would amend the county zoning code in an attempt to distinguish between “data centers” and standard “data processing facilities.”
Data centers are generally understood to be large, climate-controlled facilities where networked computers and servers function as the driver for artificial intelligence systems. Standard “data processing facilities” are described in the bill as establishments “primarily involved in the compiling, storage and maintenance of documents, records and other types of information in digital form utilizing a mainframe computer.”
Standard data processing facilities are permissible in Hawaii County on lands zoned industrial-commercial mixed-use (MCX). The measure is intended to separate industrial-scale AI data centers from the smaller installations to prevent data center developers from exploiting this zoning loophole to bypass county restrictions.
Darrow supports Bill 170’s distinction between modern data centers and traditional data processing facilities but thinks complete exclusion of data centers might have the unintended affect of precluding appropriately scaled facilities. Darrow also told the commission that standalone data centers would be more appropriately accommodated in the general industrial (MG) district, and data centers should be subject to a size limitation of 10,000 square feet. Larger facilities would require a use permit and site-specific review.
“We looked at other jurisdictions to try and find a baseline and not just make up a number,” Darrow said. “Ten-thousand square feet was an amount that they would allow in a permitted district, and then beyond that, they had some sort of permitting process that went through a public hearing.”
Darrow said some locations have instituted outright bans on data centers.
“The way that would happen here is in the Legislature through the land-use zoning,” he told commissioners. “They would ban it outright in all state land-use districts. But the opposite could obviously happen, as well, and it’s happened in the past. It could be permitted in all state land-use districts.”
Darrow said because of the amount of money involved with data centers, an outright county ban would likely prompt data center developers to seek state approval for the facilities, “and we don’t want to direct them to the agricultural district.”
There was preference expressed by some commissioners for any limits imposed to be on the amount of electricity needed to operate a data center rather than the facility’s square footage.
In the past few years, AI data centers have become controversial, with opponents warning that their use of large amounts of water and electricity will drive up utility bills for residents, as well as cause noise pollution with cooling fans going 24/7. However, there are proponents who tout potential job creation and new tax revenue streams as mitigating factors.
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Fukushima asked Kimball about why the bill is urgent. Kimball replied she recently was seated next to a data center location scout at a dinner.
“There has been a clear indication from some of these entities that they intend to build data centers in every state in the country, including Hawaii — a target of around 3,000 data centers by the end of this decade. So, the concern is real … ,” Kimball said. “While it may seem obvious that we wouldn’t be the best place to put one, and it would be costly, there is intention to bring them here.
“That’s the urgency. I want to get ahead of it.”
Between written, online and in-person testifiers, there were more than 40 pieces of testimony submitted, most in favor of the measure, although some suggested the bill be amended with what they considered stronger language.
”The thing that makes the definition we’re proposing stronger is that it replaces subjective phrases that a developer’s attorney would probably love to argue around with objective physical criteria. It describes what the facility actually contains and how much power it draws — very clear things,” Cristina Holt testified. “It also closes what is known as a ‘campusing loophole,’ because we want to make sure that entities who might want to build a hyper-scale data center here are unable to split their project up amongst adjacent parcels to avoid scrutiny or accountability.”
Holt said that in contrast to the prosperity data center developers promised communities, “their electric bills, their water bills have skyrocketed.”
“Their water pressure is nonexistent, and the water that comes out of their taps is contaminated,” she said.
“The long-term jobs that are promised don’t ever really seem to materialize in any meaningful way, and the noise pollution is constant. The residents’ quality of life are decimated. Their home values drop. They cannot sell, and they find themselves trapped with one of the worst neighbors imaginable.”
Michelle Stefanik said she opposes “all dedicated data centers regardless of their size, electrical demands, number of buildings and locations.”
“A 10,000-square-foot or 20-megawatt threshold could create an argument that anything just below that level is acceptable … ,” she testified. “I am concerned about continuous noise, cooling water consumption, wastewater — and the possibility that residents will ultimately pay for additional electrical generation and grid infrastructure.
“For this reason, I believe Hawaii County should prohibit all dedicated data centers regardless of size for at least 10 years. Although other communities have adopted shorter moratoriums, they are not on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and our land and water resources are limited. If we get this wrong, we cannot simply bring in resources from another state.”
The commissions have until Nov. 4 to forward a recommendation to the council. If they fail to do so, it will be considered a negative recommendation.
The next Windward Planning Commission meeting is at 9 a.m. Oct. 1 at the County Council Chambers in Hilo. The next Leeward Planning Commission meeting is at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 15 at the County Council Chambers in Kailua-Kona.
Email John Burnett at [email protected].
