Douglas County approves $19M tax rebate for Parker data center
Douglas County commissioners unanimously approved a $19 million tax rebate for a data center in Parker, owned by Flexential, despite objections from residents. Concerns were raised about the facility's water and energy consumption, as well as noise, heat, and light impacts on the surrounding neighborhood.
Douglas County commissioners unanimously approved a $19 million business personal property tax (BPPT) rebate for a new data center in Parker, Colorado, expected to create 16 jobs over 35 years. The decision faced significant objections from local residents and some commissioners who questioned the justification for the incentive, particularly concerning the data center's resource usage.
Tyler Millie, a Denver7 Douglas County reporter, highlighted community concerns regarding the facility's water and energy consumption. During a business meeting, Flexential's Vice President of Procurement provided details, stating the data center will use a closed-loop system with glycol and consume 600,000 gallons of water annually. This amount was compared to the average family of four using 125,000 gallons per year. The company clarified that water reuse is for bathrooms, landscaping, and employee drinking water.
Regarding electricity, Flexential has an agreement with Core Electric and uses generators on standby, which they claim could also provide power to the city during an outage. Residents also raised concerns about increased noise, heat, and lights from the facility, with the company noting that noise levels would be around 80 decibels when generators are on, equivalent to a flushing toilet, and 65 decibels when off, less than city traffic.