The city of Henderson is considering an ordinance that would make it the first local government in Southern Nevada to temporarily ban the construction of new data centers.
Henderson bill No. 3927 was introduced at Tuesday’s City Council meeting and, if passed, would impose a 180-day ban on conditional use permit applications for data center uses. The bill was referred to the City Council’s July 21 meeting for potential adoption.
According to a draft of the ordinance, the moratorium would allow the city to “conduct a thorough review,” update relevant sections of the Henderson Municipal Code related to data center developments and “thoughtfully consider” the potential impacts of data center developments within city limits.
City staff said during the meeting that the proposal would be amended before the July 21 meeting to allow the City Council to lift the moratorium sooner than 180 days.
Issues that city staff will consider include energy demands, water consumption, air quality, heat generation, environmental impacts, proximity to residential areas, land use compatibility, decommissioning plans and community and economic benefits, according to the draft ordinance.
Mayor Michelle Romero said after the meeting Tuesday that the City Council had heard there is potential interest to build additional data centers in Henderson, and that the point of the moratorium proposal is to gain information about the resources needed to maintain new data centers and to learn about other factors that might affect residents. Romero added that she was the one who requested the amendment that would allow the Council to lift the moratorium sooner than 180 days.
“If all of our questions are answered, then it’s not necessary to wait six months,” Romero said. “If we have our answers, then we can hear it and then either deny it or approve it based on the information we’ve gathered. I didn’t want to pigeonhole us in case we get those answers sooner rather than later.”
A hot-button issue
Henderson may be the first in Southern Nevada to consider a data center pause, but not the first in the state. In May, the Reno City Council extended its pause on data center approvals through Aug. 31, 2027, becoming the first Nevada city to put a pause on new data centers.
Reno’s moratorium cannot be lifted without an ordinance that would change the city code or establish evidence that existing regulations are sufficient in protecting public health.
Following protests from residents, the Boulder City Planning Commission recommended that the City Council reject plans for a data center within city limits, though the mayor has expressed a desire to bolster city finances with a lucrative lease to the developer.
AI data centers have been a hot-button issue for Nevada and the nation as communities reconcile with the facilities’ massive water and power demands. NV Energy forecasts that proposed data centers could require at double the amount of the utility’s peak load with 39 proposed data centers statewide that submitted initial requests for service.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority’s ban on so-called evaporative cooling, implemented in its entirety in 2024, extends to data centers. That means traditional cooling systems that guzzle millions of gallons of water cannot be built; instead, a “closed-loop” system that doesn’t let water evaporate, or air cooling, are the only viable paths.
However, some water-intensive data centers came to Southern Nevada before that took effect, including Google’s facility in east Henderson.
Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com and Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 and @AlanHalaly on X.
