Proposed Arabia Power data‑center and gas‑plant projects raise water, zoning and tax concerns in Lyon County

Federal and private project proponents told Lyon County commissioners on March 19 that several large energy and data infrastructure proposals on public land are in early, pre-NEPA stages, prompting questions from elected officials and residents about water, zoning and community benefit.

A BLM representative opened the briefing and introduced new local field manager Matt Megaletti. Representatives from Arabia Power (presented under the trade name Erevia Power) described three proposed hyperscale data‑center campuses — Silver Springs West (about 700 acres), On The Mark (about 530 acres) and a larger application area for Silver Springs South — plus the Scorpio Energy Center, a proposed 400‑MW gas plant coupled with a 400‑MW battery on roughly 110 acres near existing Fort Churchill generating facilities. The company said each data‑center campus would use a standard kit of parts (about 16 single‑story data halls, substations, fences and internal roads) and that it is evaluating low‑water technologies. The presenters said they are running traffic and water‑use analyses and expect to start NEPA work later this year.

"The new technologies that are being implemented now for data centers are extremely low water use...That is not what is going to be implemented here; this will be, not zero water use, but very low water use," said Rafiq Albert, executive vice president for lands and permitting at Erevia Power, in response to commissioners' water‑supply questions.

Commissioners pressed several points: some said the proposed sites are surrounded by residential land and argued the parcels are not well suited to heavy industrial uses; others said putting large projects on federal land can yield private benefit without local compensation; and at least one commissioner expressed strong opposition based on perceived impacts to local water supplies. The presentation also included a preliminary economic and tax analysis that estimated roughly 300 long‑term jobs per campus and projected about $30 million in annual post‑abatement tax revenue per campus (split roughly between real and personal property taxes), though presenters described that analysis as preliminary and subject to design and negotiation.

What happens next: presenters said NEPA planning, environmental surveys and coordinating with cooperating agencies are expected to start in the second half of the year; no county approvals were requested at the meeting. Commissioners asked proponents to engage in local outreach, to provide firm water‑use numbers, and to be explicit about any contemplated abatements or incentives before seeking county entitlements.

The exchange underscored typical pre‑NEPA tensions: proponents seeking early stakeholder input while officials and residents request firm technical data on water, traffic and land‑use compatibility before changing zoning or entitlements.