Rio Grande commissioners say no for now to data centers
The Rio Grande County Board of Commissioners has enacted a year-long moratorium on data centers and adopted a resolution to prohibit large-scale or hyperscale data centers within the county. This decision was made unanimously after significant public concern was voiced regarding data center development. Several other nearby counties and towns have taken similar actions.
The Rio Grande County Board of Commissioners in Colorado unanimously approved a year-long moratorium on data centers during its regular meeting on Wednesday. This decision allows county departments to update land use codes, as existing regulations for data centers were previously absent.
In addition to the moratorium, the commissioners also unanimously adopted a separate resolution that explicitly prohibits any large-scale or hyperscale data centers within Rio Grande County. County Administrator Skip Schoen noted "considerable concern" from the public regarding data centers, a sentiment echoed by over 30 speakers at a prior public hearing and numerous written comments.
The county's actions reflect a broader trend of local government responses to data center development across the San Luis Valley, with Saguache County, the town of South Fork, and Costilla County having already implemented various moratoriums and resolutions. Meanwhile, Alamosa County is considering a resolution for a temporary moratorium on "Utility Scale Battery Energy Storage Systems and Large Load Data Centers," while also reviewing a proposal from Strata Inc. to build a small-scale, closed-loop cooled data center.