Boulder City data center project moves to federal land after local rejection
A data center project by Townsite Solar 2 in Boulder City, Nevada, was rejected by the city's planning commission after resident opposition and the company subsequently withdrew its application for city-owned land. However, the company has received approval from the Bureau of Land Management to develop the data center on nearby federal land. Boulder City officials will hold a council meeting to discuss the original proposal's rejection.
A proposed data center project by Townsite Solar 2 (TS2) in Boulder City, Nevada, faced a setback after its application for land use permissions on an 88.5-acre parcel of city-owned land was withdrawn. The withdrawal followed significant resident opposition and a "no" vote from Boulder City's planning commission in May, which deemed the proposal unsuitable for the site near Interstate 11 and U.S. 95.
In a pivotal development, TS2 has secured approval from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to utilize an adjacent 80-acre federally-owned parcel for the data center. Initially, TS2 intended to build the data center on city land and use the federal land for solar power and battery storage. However, the company is now reversing its strategy, planning to construct the data center on federal land and potentially use the city-owned parcel for renewable energy infrastructure.
Boulder City officials, including city manager Ned Thomas, announced the application withdrawal and confirmed the BLM's approval for TS2. The Boulder City Council is scheduled to discuss the original proposal and formally receive the planning commission's negative recommendation at its July 14 meeting, concluding the city's land management process for the now-withdrawn application. City officials had noted that the data center lease could have generated approximately $2.3 million in annual revenue for the city.