BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Broomfield City Council is set to decide Tuesday on whether to implement an 18-month moratorium on new data centers.
There are several data center facilities in Broomfield already. The largest one is the Chase data center, a 20-megawatt facility.
The temporary moratorium, if passed, would not impact existing facilities. Instead, it would apply to only new or expanded data centers with power demands of at least 10 megawatts.
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“I do think that we need to enforce and have regulations in place,” Broomfield resident Kellie Mannen said.
City leaders say Broomfield does not currently have specific regulations in place for large data centers.
The pause would give staff time to study issues like electricity demand, water use, infrastructure and how these facilities could affect surrounding neighborhoods before accepting any new development applications.
Residents shared with Denver7 what they hope the city will take into account as they create those regulations.
“Exactly what are the economic and resource ramifications of new data centers going in. What is this going to cost our environmentally and financially,” Mannen said.
Broomfield City Council is set to vote on the proposal during Tuesday night’s meeting.
If approved, the moratorium would remain in effect through December of next year unless new regulations are adopted sooner.
