Data centers will be under heightened scrutiny thanks to the latest move by the El Paso City Council.
The City Council on Monday, July 20, adopted the city’s first Data Center Policy Framework aimed at setting standards for future hyperscale data center projects in the city and strengthening protections for residents, as well as city infrastructure, natural resources and utility ratepayers.
“This framework reflects months of listening, public engagement, and careful policy development,” City Manager Dionne Mack said in a news release. “It establishes clear expectations for future hyperscale data center projects while strengthening environmental protections, accountability, and public participation. Just as importantly, it gives the city a roadmap to continue adapting its policies as technology, regulations, and community priorities evolve, ensuring future decisions protect El Paso’s residents, infrastructure, natural resources, and ratepayers.”
The new policy comes after six months of research and public engagement per the City Council’s February directive. City staff hosted six community meetings and fielded more than 2,300 public comments and 274 online survey responses in drafting the final framework.
Among residents’ chief concerns were water use, electricity demand, environmental impacts, transparency, infrastructure, incentives and long-term accountability.
“Those priorities directly shaped the framework’s recommendations,” the news release stated, “resulting in stronger zoning oversight, enhanced environmental standards, expanded transparency, greater public participation, and increased accountability for future hyperscale data center projects.”
While the new policy will not affect the massive Meta data center stretching out in Northeast El Paso, it represents a long-term policy for evaluating future projects and ensuring protections are in place for the community and its resources.
What’s in the framework?
Following is a breakdown of the policy recommendations included in El Paso’s Data Center Policy Framework:
Recommendations included in the Data Center Policy Framework will be implemented through future ordinance amendments, policy updates and other actions that will return to City Council for consideration.
The Data Center Policy Framework “is intended to serve as a living policy document,” the news release stated, “that can continue evolving through future City Council actions as technology, utility requirements, laws, regulations, and community priorities change.”
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: No more tax breaks: El Paso City Council adopts new data center rules
Reporting by Adam Powell, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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By Adam Powell, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
