South Fork looks into Data Centers
The Town of South Fork, Colorado, has enacted a one-year moratorium on data center development to allow officials to evaluate community concerns and establish regulations. Residents and town officials are addressing potential impacts on water usage, the environment, and the local power grid. No companies have officially approached the town regarding data center construction.
Residents and officials in South Fork, Colorado, gathered for a planning and zoning commission meeting to discuss the future of data centers in the San Luis Valley. South Fork Town Administrator Hank Weber confirmed that the town enacted a one-year moratorium on data center development in June to allow time for public discussion and to establish regulations, dispelling social media rumors that companies had already approached the town. A similar moratorium was previously passed by the Town of Saguache.
Monroe Johnson, Chief Technology Officer for the San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative (SLV REC), addressed concerns about water usage, environmental impact, and the stability of the local power grid, which has seen declining electrical loads over the past 25 years. Johnson differentiated between large "hyperscale" data centers that use significant water and smaller, modular "conex container" setups, noting that the latter often use no water and draw power comparable to other commercial additions. He acknowledged that a company named Strata had explored sites in Alamosa, Saguache, and Rio Grande counties, but no modular data containers are currently operating in the valley.
Johnson clarified that modular data centers could support local needs, such as real-time pivot irrigation apps for farmers or computing time for institutions like Adams State University. However, Trustee Iris Devlin highlighted the energy scale, noting that a single 1-megawatt container could consume as much power as South Fork's entire population. Johnson reassured residents that power restoration protocols prioritize essential services over tech operations during outages. Both town officials and SLV REC agreed that the moratorium period is crucial for developing robust protections for the community.