Senate narrows bill on data-center siting to commercial/industrial zoning; floor amendment requiring energy/water review fails
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Summary
Lawmakers adopted a committee amendment to allow data centers by right in commercial and industrial zones and subject them to local land-use rules. A proposed floor amendment to require state-level energy and water impact reviews failed; the committee amendment passed by roll-call vote (16–8).
The Senate debated Senate Bill 439, a proposal originally drafted with specific statewide zoning and technical requirements for data centers. Senator Lang, presenting the committee amendment, said the change was intended to preserve local control by allowing municipalities to apply local land-use regulations while clarifying that data centers should be permitted in commercial and industrial districts, not in residential, agricultural or recreational zones.
Senator Altschuler, opposing the amendment, argued the rewrite removed critical protections for communities — including provisions for utility confirmation of available electrical capacity, noise limits, and water usage reviews — and said the amendment left towns unable to require technical preconditions to protect infrastructure and residents. “This amendment takes away all of the necessary components to protect our communities,” she said.
Senator Perkins Cuoco offered a floor amendment to add a review requirement for energy and water impacts for proposed data-center projects; supporters described that motion as a modest safeguard to ensure grid and water capacity are evaluated before siting. The floor amendment failed on a roll call; the committee amendment was then adopted by a 16–8 roll call and the bill was ordered to third reading.
Members stressed the tension between economic development and infrastructure capacity. Senator Waters and others noted that large-scale, utility-intense projects raise interconnection and grid-modernization issues. Senator Lang and supporters argued the state should avoid prescriptive, one-size-fits-all statewide mandates and instead let local jurisdictions set conditions to reflect local infrastructure realities.
What’s next: SB 439 proceeds to third reading. Floor debate leaves standing questions about whether future legislation or administrative guidance will address statewide interconnection, water use, and noise considerations for large energy consumers.
