Council OKs Agate LLC Cooling‑water Agreement; Developer to Fund $10.5M Pipeline

Lincoln — The Lincoln City Council on Monday approved an agreement with Agate LLC for construction and eventual city ownership of a noncontact cooling water main to carry clean, chilled discharge from a proposed data center to the city’s northeast wastewater treatment facility.

Elizabeth Elliott, director of Lincoln Transportation and Utilities, told the council the pipeline is necessary because the cooling discharge is clean water used solely for cooling and the utility intends to connect that flow to the middle/back end of its system so it does not occupy primary treatment capacity. "The infrastructure that is built, is being paid for in full by Agate," Elliott said, adding an estimated construction cost of about $10.5 million.

Elliott said the city would create a special rate for Agate to cover operating costs for accepting that stream, and the developer will be billed like any other customer. "This will have no impact on rate payers because Agate is paying for the full construction cost," Elliott told council members, while also noting the city is working with the state permitting authority to secure the required modified discharge permit.

Council members asked about timing and capacity. Elliott said the data center’s initial phase may begin operations before the pipeline is completed but that city restrictions are in place to limit impacts; the pipeline completion is expected in a matter of months rather than years. The agreement and a related state permit were described as prerequisites to full operations.

The council approved the agreement (motion introduced by Bowers) by recorded roll call (motion carried 7–0).

Next steps: The city will finalize a rate structure for the noncontact discharge and work with Agate and the state agency on permitting and timing for the pipeline’s operation.