Colorado Springs Planning Commission considers Raeden data center proposal amid community opposition

The Colorado Springs Planning Commission met to deliberate on Project Taurus, a proposed 50-megawatt data center by California-based Raeden, intended for an unnamed customer near the Garden of the Gods Road corridor. The project has incited considerable community protest, with residents voicing concerns over water and power consumption, noise pollution, and environmental impacts, including the use of chemicals like PFAS in closed-loop cooling systems.

Environmental justice advocate Ean Tafoya of Green Latinos highlighted the risks of PFAS contamination, drawing parallels to past issues at Peterson Space Force Base. Community members urged the Planning Commission to enact a data center moratorium. Patricia Duke questioned Raeden's choice of location, while Kate Kent of the Integrity Matters group emphasized the need for a deliberate pause to fully understand the project's residential impacts. Expert testimony from Jon Forsee of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs detailed how local temperature inversions could exacerbate sound impacts.

Raeden CEO Jason Green addressed the concerns, emphasizing the company's community engagement efforts and the data center's use of a closed-loop cooling system, designed for efficiency with newer Nvidia Vera Rubin chips. Despite Raeden's presentation, opposition speakers outnumbered supporters during the public comment session. The Planning Commission's decision is anticipated later, with the possibility of further appeals to the Colorado Springs City Council, which holds final authority on planning matters.