A moratorium on data center applications has been approved in Nye County.

The technology upon which people have come to rely is ever-evolving and with cloud-based systems and Artificial Intelligence seeing continuous growth, so too are the facilities that provide the backbone of the digital world. And though data centers may be an integral part of that world, in many communities around the country, the public sentiment toward these facilities is far from positive.

Here in Pahrump, concerns have recently flared as a result of a developer approaching the electrical company that serves the valley and surrounding areas, Valley Electric Association, for its power needs for a potential local data center. In response to the swell of concerns this proposal has touched off, Nye County has now officially approved a county-wide moratorium on any new applications for facilities of this nature, which will remain in effect until such time as the county has adopted local data center regulations.

The moratorium went before the Nye County Commission during its Tuesday, June 2 meeting, with commission chair Ron Boskovich sponsoring the item.

“We have a solar ordinance that was developed a year or so ago and basically, I think the thought is, the data side could be included and integrated into that ordinance,” Boskovich stated that afternoon.

“That’s my thought, that this would become part of that same ordinance,” county manager Brett Waggoner confirmed. “That same approval process, the same review process, etcetera, and we would just be adding a section that pertains to data centers, to address those concerns.”

The concerns surrounding data centers are plentiful - from water use to noise to contamination risk and more — and the public comment period for the item was rife with frustration as residents expressed their fears. Many speakers were in wholehearted support of a moratorium but there were several who said they felt that simply wouldn’t go far enough.

“A temporary moratorium sounds good but a permanent ban is even better. We don’t want them here because of the destruction to our water and infrastructure. They cause brown-outs. And we just can’t afford to do that in this valley,” Ammie Nelson stated.

Dwight Lilly said he was so firmly against data centers that it has even affected how he plans to vote in this year’s election.

“The governor’s position on solar farms and data centers cost him my vote,” Lilly stated, adding, “I agree with Ammie Nelson’s comment. How about an outright ban on this?”

“A data center is not just a building,” Matthew Winterhawk stressed. “It is a water demand, a power demand, a fire risk, a road burden, utility burden, wastewater, heat, chemicals, tax abatements, emergency service strain and long-term risk shifted onto local people.”

Tammy Pitman touched on the large tax abatements that are being offered to data center developers and Renee Jones, who works in the medical field, said she has seen patients who have moved to the valley to escape facilities of this type, which they claim had been causing them healthcare issues. Kenneth Martin said he has prior experience working with a company that has data centers and he did not feel the desert would make a suitable location.

“The cost will be very steep and the chemicals they will need to cool these servers will likely contaminate our water supply. There is a slew of lawsuits nationwide where there are many allegations about water contamination,” Martin added. “And we have a lot of people here who are very sensitive about their water rights.”

But it wasn’t all opposition.

Local developer Russ Meads highlighted the county’s strained financial situation, noting that tax revenue from data centers could help bolster the county’s coffers. He noted that newer technologies are emerging that reduce or even eliminate water use, which is a primary concern.

“I think as you move this forward and we try to find out what we do want to have, there are definitely ways that we can take advantage of the good parts of what these do bring, as long as we make sure that the designs and the availability of that technology is implemented,” Meads said.

Tim Bohannon was quick to defend the desire of other communities in Nye County, remarking, “I’ve had people up north approach me and say hey, we welcome the idea of a data center… What I would suggest is, respect their rights, too. We have, down in Pahrump, certain opinions on this, and some are very strong on those opinions, about not having a data center in Basin No. 162 — which I would agree with — but we have other areas in the county that say, wait a minute here, we have rights too and we want to express our opinions. Make sure you get that.”

In fact, commissioner John Koenig’s original motion was to exclude the town of Tonopah from the moratorium, at the town’s request. However, Waggoner said that the new data center ordinance should not take long to draft and could be ready in about 90 days, so the board switched directions.

“It’s only three months. Then they [other communities in Nye County] can decide if they want to opt in or opt out, depending on what they see we have written,” commissioner Debra Strickland stated.

She then made the motion to place a county-wide moratorium on new applications for data centers, defined as a centralized, physical facility or building that houses a vast network of computer servers, data storage drives and networking equipment. The motion passed with all in favor.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com