APC discusses data-center moratorium, battery storage and crypto; plans May public hearing

Grant County planning staff and commission members spent a substantial portion of the April 6 meeting discussing how the APC should respond to County Commissioners' recent Ordinance 4, which imposes a temporary moratorium on permits for data centers.

Mr. Glansancy told the commission that, following the commissioners' action, staff drafted a proposed APC resolution (referred to in the meeting as Resolution 005) to provide the APC up to six months to develop local ordinance language for data centers. He said the APC's reworked resolution would solidify the commissioners' standing and provide staff time to prepare a formal ordinance and public hearing.

Commissioners debated whether battery storage rules should be bundled into the same resolution or pursued as a standalone ordinance. One member said battery storage was mentioned in prior outlines and could require a separate ordinance if storage units have uses beyond data centers; another member cautioned that trying to address data centers, battery storage and cryptocurrency all at once could exceed the six-month window given the complexity and recent experience drafting solar rules.

Several members flagged that cryptocurrency mining uses hardware similar to data centers and could be easily retooled; existing facilities may be grandfathered but expansions or retooling would raise regulatory questions. Mr. Glickfield urged sequencing the work (data centers first), noting that the solar ordinance previously took much of the available time and that spreading staff effort across multiple topics could be problematic.

No formal action was taken at the APC meeting on item 5.2. Commissioners agreed to continue discussing the matter and to schedule a public hearing in May where the APC will solicit public input and consider an ordinance recommendation.