AURORA, Colo. — Aurora's City Council voted against a temporary ban on data center construction Monday night, even as residents raised concerns about environmental impacts and energy consumption.
The council voted 6-5 to reject an emergency resolution introduced by Council Member Amy Wiles that would have placed a six-month moratorium on data center construction while development standards were adopted. The mayor cast the tiebreaking vote.
Instead, the council passed a resolution introduced by Council Member Curtis Gardner to establish development standards for data centers without the moratorium, following two hours of heated discussion.
Resident Makenna Green said she supported a more measured approach to data center development.
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"Obviously, as they get built, we learn a little bit more and more. And so I think with the educated building of these, it's a better start to a situation rather than just the rush into building," Green said.
Resident Arvin Martinez voiced concerns about the strain new facilities could place on shared resources.
"We're going to have this other facility coming in and taking what little water we have, in addition to the electricity bills going out for common people who already have trouble paying their bills," Martinez said.
The city has no authority over energy impacts — those are governed through regulatory processes by the Public Utilities Commission and Xcel Energy.
Andrew Holder, Xcel Energy Colorado's director of community relations and local government affairs, said the company is focused on keeping customers and communities at the center of its decisions.
"We're really just listening and supporting our economic development and our local government partners, but we want to make sure that we keep our customers and our communities front of mind. We want to hear what they're saying, so that when we do partner with these type of endeavors, that we're addressing their concerns," Holder said.
The mayor closed the meeting by reminding the council that the public must be involved in these decisions as the city moves forward.
Council members now have 35 days to work through proposed regulations, which could include banning evaporative cooling to conserve water and revisiting zoning rules.
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