Planning commission recommends denying ban on on-site power generation for data centers, urges performance standards

The Provo City Planning Commission on March 25 unanimously recommended that the City Council deny proposed amendments to Title 14 that would remove on-site power generation as a permitted use in the data-center overlay zone and change related environmental-impact requirements.

Planner Hannah Sal told the commission the amendments were intended to address the city’s concerns about utility rates, grid load, air pollutants and water use. “Brief summary: they remove power generation as a permitted use,” Sal said, and staff described linked effects: a practical cap at about 50 megawatts because facilities above that threshold typically must provide their own generation under Utah Municipal Power Agency standards; retention of a 200-foot setback from sensitive properties while removing a 500-foot setback tied to on-site generation; prohibitions on discharge into the municipal wastewater system; and removal of some third-party air-quality reporting requirements over 5…