Data center regulation approved by Aurora City Council
The Aurora City Council unanimously approved an ordinance prohibiting permits for evaporative cooling systems in new commercial, industrial, and multifamily buildings, including data centers. This decision was driven by water scarcity concerns, pushing for closed-loop cooling systems instead. A previous moratorium on data centers was also mentioned in the context of water usage.
The Aurora City Council in Colorado has unanimously passed an ordinance that prohibits permits for evaporative cooling systems in future commercial, industrial, and multifamily buildings, a measure that specifically impacts data centers. The decision was prompted by widespread concern over water usage, with a Magellan Strategies survey revealing that 82% of over 1000 registered Colorado voters believe data centers consume too much water.
Councilor Amy Wild, who also sponsored a previously imposed moratorium on data centers, advocated for the ordinance, citing the ongoing water crisis as the primary reason for the ban. Under the new regulation, data centers will be required to utilize closed-loop cooling systems, which do not evaporate water. Aurora Water has confirmed that closed-loop cooling systems, which are already part of Aurora's large water use guide, typically require only a few hundred thousand gallons of water every few years, with their overall water consumption primarily attributed to landscaping and domestic uses, averaging around half a million gallons per month.