Environmental groups win stay in fight over data center near Boulder City
A federal board has granted a stay, temporarily blocking a proposed 80-acre data center near Boulder City, Nevada, while it reviews challenges to the project's federal approval. Environmental groups and Boulder City had appealed the Bureau of Land Management's approval, arguing it lacked proper environmental review and public input. This decision is a win for residents concerned about water and energy use, noise, and the project's fit with the city's character.
A federal board has issued a stay, halting the development of a proposed 80-acre data center near Boulder City, Nevada, as it reviews appeals against the project's federal approval. The stay blocks plans by developer Townsite Solar 2, LLC, which had previously received a green light from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the site near Interstate 11 and U.S. Highway 95.
Boulder City, alongside environmental groups like the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club, appealed the BLM's decision. They contended that the agency failed to consult the city or allow sufficient public input, and unlawfully carried over a 2023 environmental review for a solar farm, originally granted to Skylar Capital Management, to the data center project. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s board of land appeals found that the appellants were likely to prove the project lacked the required specific environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act.
This ruling marks a temporary victory for Boulder City residents and environmental advocates, who have actively opposed the project through protests, petitions, and public comments, citing concerns over water consumption in the desert, energy use, air emissions, noise, and the impact on the city's character. U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., praised the ruling, calling the BLM's actions "improper but illegal" for misusing the solar farm's environmental impact statement for a data center.