Colorado lawmakers reject environmentalist-backed effort to regulate data centers

Colorado lawmakers indefinitely postponed Senate Bill 102, a legislative effort aimed at imposing environmental regulations on data centers within the state. State Sen. Cathy Kipp (D-Fort Collins) and Rep. Kyle Brown (D-Louisville) sponsored the bill, which sought to require data center companies to cover the full cost of their power consumption and ensure compliance with the state's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The proposed legislation also included criteria for data centers to qualify for two annual 15-year sales and use tax exemptions, based on factors such as clean energy adoption, grid resiliency program participation, job quality, community benefits, investments, and water efficiency. Despite the addition of a tax incentive to gain support, the Senate Transportation and Energy committee unanimously voted down the measure in the final days of the legislative session, effectively halting its passage. Sen. Kipp has indicated plans to reintroduce the legislation in the next session.