County to get second bite at moratorium on data center project
Pulaski County is set to reconsider a proposed 12-month moratorium on data centers and other large-scale industrial projects, spearheaded by county judge candidate Wendell Griffen. This new proposal, unlike a previous failed attempt, does not exempt a planned $6 billion AVAIO Digital data center. The ordinance requires companies to prove various approvals and targets projects consuming over 5 MW of electricity and 100,000 gallons of water daily.
Democratic candidate for Pulaski County judge, Wendell Griffen, is making a second attempt to enact a 12-month moratorium on large-scale industrial projects, including data centers, in Pulaski County, Arkansas. Griffen introduced a proposed ordinance calling for the moratorium, which county officials are expected to discuss at this month's Quorum Court meeting. A similar proposal was narrowly defeated in May, but Griffen believes he now has the necessary support among the justices of the peace to pass it.
Griffen has been a vocal critic of the current county judge, Barry Hyde, alleging a lack of transparency regarding an AVAIO Digital data center project in the Wrightsville area that Hyde has reportedly been working on for two years. The key difference in Griffen's new proposal, dubbed the "Pulaski County High-Impact Industrial and High-Intensity Digital Infrastructure Moratorium Ordinance," is that it does not include an exception for the AVAIO Digital project, unlike the previous failed measure. County Attorney Hamilton Kemp had previously urged an exception for AVAIO due to legal concerns.
The proposed emergency ordinance, sponsored by Justices of the Peace Tina Ward, Julie Blackwood, and Rebekah Davis, would go into effect immediately upon approval. It would pause projects requiring 5 megawatts or more of electricity and over 100,000 gallons of water daily, encompassing artificial intelligence computing, cryptocurrency mining, and blockchain processing, in addition to data centers. Griffen stated he needs eight votes at the June 9 agenda meeting to place the proposal on the agenda, and 10 votes at the June 23 Quorum Court meeting for its passage, emphasizing its potential as a groundbreaking protective measure for communities across Arkansas.