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Denver committee forwards one‑year moratorium on new data centers to study water, energy and community impacts
Summary
Council sponsors presented an ordinance to pause new data center approvals for one year while a broadly representative working group studies energy, water, noise and siting impacts. Committee advanced the moratorium to full council and asked staff to finalize the working‑group makeup and timelines.
Councilmembers Paul Cashman and Daryl Watson introduced ordinance 260431 to place a one‑year moratorium on new data centers in the City and County of Denver and to convene a working group to study whether and how the city should regulate future data center development.
Cashman said the moratorium is intended to pause new site development plan and site development plan amendment approvals so the city can evaluate the impacts of a newer “breed” of data centers that require large amounts of electricity and potentially significant water for cooling. He and Watson cited examples from other jurisdictions that have imposed moratoria or other restrictions and said the pause would allow the working group — composed of community members, utilities (Denver Water, Xcel Energy), subject‑matter experts, union representatives, city departments and council members — to recommend a path forward.
Presenters highlighted potential concerns including energy use, water consumption for cooling, on‑site generator noise, and ground‑temperature effects. City staff said there are currently zero pending zoning applications that the moratorium would capture. Building officials reported that CoreSite’s Building 1 had final building permits issued on March 12 for portions of the structure, and additional interior submittals were under plan review; the committee asked the city attorney to clarify whether those permits are affected and for a memo on legal implications.
Councilmembers asked about the scope of studies, who would pay for consultants or analyses, how the working group would be composed, and whether the task force should include or exclude vendor companies. The mayor’s office (Angela Casillas) said the proposed balance would include subject‑matter experts, union representatives, industry trade groups (rather than direct vendors), advocacy representatives and community members; details would be finalized prior to the full council vote. The committee voted to forward the ordinance to full council (first reading anticipated April 20; public hearing/second reading May 18) and to continue refining the working‑group composition and scope of work.
