HENDERSON (KTNV) — There's a growing effort by local leaders across Nevada to press pause, take a step back and figure out how to better regulate data centers as we see more popping up in our communities.
That's what Henderson City Council considered at a Tuesday meeting, but ultimately declined to put a 180-day pause on new data center applications.
Instead, the city is looking into creating a development agreement that data centers would have to follow.
The Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, which hosted a town hall on Sunday ahead of the vote, said they "condemned the Henderson City Council's decision to reject a temporary moratorium on new data center applications."
"While requiring development agreements provides additional oversight beyond the city's standard development process, it falls far short of the temporary pause residents requested to allow the city time to develop comprehensive regulations before additional projects move forward.
Residents from across Henderson urged the council to adopt a moratorium, raising concerns about water use, energy demand, air quality, noise, infrastructure costs, and the long-term impacts of large-scale data center development. Instead of providing the community with the certainty of a temporary pause, the council chose an approach that will require the public to fight each proposal one at a time.
For years, elected officials and industry leaders have treated data center expansion as an unquestioned good. Increasingly, however, Nevada communities are demanding accountability and asking hard questions about who benefits from these projects, who bears the costs, and whether residents are being asked to subsidize infrastructure built primarily to serve some of the wealthiest corporations in the world.
The Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter has been at the forefront of Nevada's growing movement for data center accountability. Communities across Nevada are recognizing that local governments need thoughtful, enforceable policies in place before approving an industry with enormous demands on land, water, and energy resources. The Chapter will continue working alongside local governments, Tribal Nations, and community members to ensure the public has a meaningful voice in decisions about future data center development."
If the measure had passed, Henderson would've joined the city of Reno and Nye County in pressing pause on these new facilities as they work out new development standards.
Data centers and their growing presence in the valley are a topic we have been following closely.
Over the weekend, Pahrump residents joined a nationwide protest against AI data centers.
Recently, Clark County leaders unanimously approved the expansion of the Switch data center in southwest Las Vegas.
WATCH | Our Southwest Las Vegas Reporter Shakeria Hawkins heard from locals ahead of that vote and the concerns they had surrounding the expansion:
Just last week in Boulder City, the city council unanimously appealed an approval by the Bureau of Land Management for a planned data center.
The appeal targets a June 26 BLM decision that approved the facility on federal land — a move that effectively stripped the city of any authority over the project.
Boulder City's planning commission already voted to reject the proposal for the Townsite Solar 2 project, a decision that came after more than three hours of heated public opposition. It appears that the company then went to federal authorities to get their project ultimately approved.
WATCH | Boulder City residents speak out against data center:
Boulder City residents have tried to take other measures to have more say in data center approvals. A petition recently circulated that would have required voter approval to bring data centers to the city, but it did not garner the required number of signatures, a city representative told Channel 13.
Henderson Reporter Ryan Ketcham will be at that meeting tonight with the latest developments both on air and online.
We have multiple reporters looking into the issues surrounding data centers in Southern Nevada. If you have any questions or concerns on the topic, reach out to us by clicking on the banner below:
