Developers eye Native nations, tribal communities for new data center projects

Officials in Page, Arizona, a small city near the Glen Canyon Dam, passed a land sale agreement establishing a framework for a future data center. The 500-acre parcel, located about a mile from the Colorado River’s Horseshoe Bend, was sold to Huntley LLC for $7 million, with the company intending to build a 1 gigawatt data center.

Residents and the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation, which borders the proposed site, have voiced significant opposition. A petition was launched, and the LeChee Chapter, led by president Irene Whitekiller, passed a resolution opposing the land sale, citing concerns about the immense water requirements for cooling servers amidst severe drought conditions.

The article notes a growing trend of developers eyeing tribal lands for data center projects, with some companies potentially viewing these sovereign nations as having more lenient regulations. This has led several tribal communities to take action; the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma enacted a complete moratorium on data centers in March, while the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma's Business Committee formally declared its opposition in July. In August, the Cherokee Nation banned hyperscale data center development on tribally owned and trust lands. Organizations like Honor the Earth are assisting tribes in organizing against such developments.

Conversely, some tribes, such as Colusa Indian Energy, are exploring data center partnerships, supported by financial and technical resources from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, which sees data centers as a significant source of economic opportunity and jobs. However, tribal leaders like Whitekiller and experts like Tana Fitzpatrick of the University of Oklahoma emphasize the need for continued study and the sovereign right of each tribe to make its own decisions regarding land use.