The war against data centers continues.
Longmont City Council voted to move forward an ordinance that would ban hyperscale data centers. The idea advanced in a 5-1 vote with Councilmember Diane Crist being the only holdout. What is a “hyperscale” facility? More on that later.
City council passed three amendments to the ordinance. Two of them from Councilmember Jake Marsing, and the other from Councilmember Matthew Popkin.
Marsing’s amendments:
Determining peak electrical demand from data centers will rely on information provided by the company and be verified by Longmont Power & Communications.
Future expansions to data centers cannot meet or exceed 100 megawatts of projected peak electrical demand
Popkin’s amendment:
Revise the definition of “hyperscale facility” to be a data center that has a projected peak electrical demand of no greater than 5% of Platte River Power Authority’s nameplate capacity, or 100 MW, whichever is lower, whether at initial operation or through expansion.
It effectively slashes data center power consumption to 70 MW (enough to power 35,000 homes).
Why Crist voted against all of them:
Crist said she’s not explicitly saying hyperscale facilities should be allowed, but she believes the City already has sufficient guardrails in effect. At the meeting, Daryl Hahn, electrical utility director for LPC testified to existing protections for locals. He said while they’re not exhaustive, PRPA has policy in place to protect locals from price hikes caused by large energy consumers. And for what it’s worth:
“The City has a philosophy about not impacting existing customers when a new one comes into town,” Hahn said.
Hahn added that data centers cannot increase capacity without the City’s knowledge.
A final decision could be made as early as June 9.