Planning commission seeks policies to limit utility impacts from data centers, and urges actions on utilities affordability and broadband competition

Thurston County planning commissioners on Aug. 27 agreed to add policy language to the Thurston 2045 utilities chapter aimed at protecting residents and ecosystems from the resource impacts of large, technology‑driven facilities such as data centers, and they asked staff to identify implementation actions to track energy and water demand from high‑intensity users.

Maya Tipel, senior planner with Thurston County Community Planning, presented draft language options and an implementation action item. Proposed policies included ensuring that growth of technology‑driven and emergent industries “does not compromise the long‑term availability and affordability of essential public resources, including water and power,” and safeguarding residents and ecosystems from adverse impacts on water and power availability and cost associated with large‑scale business development. Tipel also proposed an implementation action to evaluate…