The future of data center development in Clark County will be front of mind next week when county commissioners meet to discuss possible guidelines for future projects.
Commissioner Tick Segerblom requested the conversation three weeks after commissioners — acting as the county’s zoning board — approved the latest data center.
Switch, the Las Vegas-based technology infrastructure company, received a green light to add a data center to its southwest valley megacomplex amid pushback from residents and environmental groups.
The discussion, scheduled for the next commission meeting, will center around “the application process and approval criteria for data centers in unincorporated Clark County,” according to an agenda item.
A draft of a possible ordinance, if requested at the meeting, would come at a later date.
Segerblom told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday that there are no specific proposals about what guidelines could look like.
“It’s just become a hot topic, and I don’t know what, if anything, the county would want to do — but I figured we can talk about it and get ahead of the game,” he said. “That would be helpful.”
Segerblom had hinted that the discussion was coming the day the board approved Switch’s expansion, telling commissioners that the county should consider regulations for future facilities to keep them from wasting water and energy or affecting the quality of life.
Those are the central arguments in the pushback against data centers across the U.S. as companies continue to build them to keep up with AI technology.
Residents who spoke at the June 17 zoning board meeting cited the same apprehensions.
Explaining their support for Switch’s new data center, commissioners noted that its facilities use 100 percent renewable energy from infrastructure it paid for itself. Additionally, they said, the hardware Switch uses is cooled by closed-loop systems that use non-evaporative fluids.
Segerblom, who credited the residents’ feedback for proposing a formal discussion, described Switch data centers as the gold standard.
Although no specific ideas have been floated, one might involve having county staff explore how other U.S. jurisdictions are handling data centers.
Other Nevada municipalities have also been dealing with public backlash regarding such facilities.
Boulder City’s Planning Commission voted to recommend that the city reject an 88.5-acre data center proposed by Texas-based Skylar Capital Management.
The city of Henderson last month introduced an ordinance that might lead to a 180-day moratorium on data center applications. The Reno City Council approved a roughly yearlong pause on AI data center approvals while it explores possible regulations on future developments.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
