Nevada town battles Trump admin over data center
Boulder City, Nevada, is challenging the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) swift approval of a data center project on federal land within city limits. Local officials and environmental groups argue the decision was made without public input and could set a concerning precedent for future federal land use. The city council has voted to appeal the decision, with citizens and environmental groups also filing challenges.
Boulder City, Nevada, is in a dispute with the federal government over a proposed data center on a 76-acre plot of land within city limits, controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The site was originally slated for a solar farm, but developers, Skylar Energy Resources through its subsidiary Townsite Solar 2, amended their application to build a data center.
BLM approved the data center project without public hearings or input, seemingly referencing President Donald Trump's 2025 executive order to accelerate AI infrastructure on federal land. This decision has sparked strong opposition from Boulder City officials and residents, who are concerned about the project's impact on city infrastructure, emergency services, water use, noise, power demand, and the town's character, especially since the city would receive no direct revenue from the federal land project.
The Boulder City Council has voted to appeal the BLM's approval through the Interior Department, with City Attorney Brittney Walker leading the challenge. Concurrently, a group of citizens, aided by the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, is filing its own appeal. U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) has also demanded transparency from BLM and is working on legislation to prevent similar approvals on lands designated for other projects. Opponents, including Olivia Tanager of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter and Patrick Donnelly of the Center for Biological Diversity, fear this rapid approval could set a problematic precedent for future data center developments on federal land nationwide, arguing that the environmental analysis for a solar project is irrelevant for a data center.