Democratic Candidate For Governor Alexis Hill hosts a town hall about data centers

Democratic Candidate for Governor Alexis Hill, who also serves as the Chair of Washoe County's Commissioners, hosted a town hall in Reno, Nevada, to address concerns regarding data center development in the state. Hill emphasized that data centers have been a significant issue on her campaign trail and highlighted the need for the state to implement proper regulations. She outlined her intentions, including implementing Executive Orders to halt all new tax abatements for data center construction and to mandate a review of their environmental impacts, particularly concerning water and energy use. Hill also plans to push the legislature to ensure data centers do not increase energy costs or rely on coal energy, requiring them to meet high clean energy portfolio standards. Attendees at the town hall voiced their own concerns. Patricia Gallimore of the Reno-Sparks NAACP stressed the need for public transparency and involvement in the approval process for data centers. Tara Tran from the advocacy group Water Over Data called for a permanent ban on hyperscale data centers, emphasizing that any construction must have the full approval of local indigenous and tribal nations, specifically mentioning the Washoe and Paiute people in the Truckee Meadows area.