The Lincoln County commissioners stopped short Monday of enacting a moratorium on zoning applications for computer data centers.

The no-decision came after a one-hour-plus, closed-door meeting with officials from electric providers – Dawson Public Power and Nebraska Public Power – as well as North Platte Chamber CEO Gary Person.

The session was said to be needed to “clearly necessary to protect the public interest,” but not explained further.

When the doors opened again, the commissioners considered a six-month moratorium on such applications in a lengthy back-and-forth discussion in open session.  

In the end, they agreed that they could take up the issue at the next meeting on Monday, June 8.

On Monday, Commissioner Joe Hewgley proposed a 90-day delay instead of a six-month moratorium. Commissioner Jerry Woodruff seconded the motion, but during the subsequent discussion, said he didn’t think a delay was necessary.

The board voted 3-2 against Hewgley’s motion and although the discussion continued, no other motion was proposed, so the prospect of a moratorium, or a “hold,” died, at least for now. Board members expect to have more information available by next week.

The commissioners did take one decisive action Monday. They unanimously directed the planning commission, an advisory board on development and zoning issues, to investigate, review and provide recommendations to revise the existing zoning regulations about data centers.

During the discussion, Zoning Administrator Judy Clark told the commissioners that the county’s existing regulations might be sufficient to protect water resources and the safety of residents, if, that is, the planning commission does its job well. The commissioners essentially told the planning commission to get to work on it.

The opposition to the moratorium came from those who support economic development, believing it will be a boon to the county’s property tax revenues and provide new jobs.  

Everybody’s grappling

Counties across the state, as well as state and local governments, are grappling with how to oversee the development of large data centers, which is proceeding at an explosive pace.

Many neighborhoods around the country are organizing in opposition, creating resistance.

The Denver city council has unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on data centers, halting new zoning permits and site development plans while the city drafts rules for future projects, the Nebraska Examiner reported on May 31. In April, Oklahoma City approved a similar moratorium. Many other places are doing the same, the Examiner said.

Water, electricity needed

Data centers consume unprecedented amounts of electricity and water. The electricity powers their banks of computers, and water cool the air so the computers don’t overheat.

Computers currently store billions of business and personal records – from financial and legal documents to family photographs – “in the cloud.” The word “cloud” might sound mysterious, even super-natural, but it is simply a euphemism for warehouses full of banks of computers.

The development of cryptocurrency has created another demand for data centers. A cryptocurrency center in Kearney that opened in 2023 uses as much electricity as the city of Kearney itself, and in the process, that development used most all of the surplus supply of Nebraska’s electricity.

On top of that, the use of Artificial Intelligence is now exploding.

AI, which can answer questions for millions of individuals, requires computers to rapidly process incredible amounts of information. That requires more data centers.   

Data center computers, referred to as “servers,” must be cooled so their chips and related IT equipment operate efficiently; in other words, so they don’t overheat.

The amount of water required to cool an average-size data center is the equivalent to the water that is used in a small town, analysts say.

In addition, data centers can use as much electricity as a moderate size town to operate, such as the situation in Kearney.

That causes alarm near and far. Some are calling for a national moratorium on the use of Artificial Intelligence itself. Others want a local moratorium. Both sets of opponents say they need time for government, from local zoning to the nation’s congress, to catch up with the rapid development of artificial intelligence and corresponding data centers.

Currently, data centers use nearly 4.5% of the electricity in the U.S., enough to power 16 million U.S. homes, analysts say. That amount is projected to double or triple within two years, according to projections.

Coming to Nebraska

Although the primary locations of data centers are in Texas, Virginia, Illinois and California, according to electrictchoice.com, they are coming to Nebraska.

It is conceivable that the water needed for a data center can operate in a closed-loop system, similar to a geo-thermal system or a super-scale car radiator, the commissioners said during the discussion, but the electricity that is needed presents a major challenge in Nebraska.

Residents in southern Lincoln County have been contacted by the Tenaska company about the development of a natural gas-fueled plant in that area, which would apparently generate electricity to power a data center.

Tenaska, one of the largest privately held energy companies in the United States, is headquartered in Omaha. It is looking for land in Lincoln County.

In other places, officials in Otoe County in the southeast corner of the state recently agreed not to accept zoning applications for a data center for up to a year. Gage County, home to the city of Beatrice, is considering a similar moratorium.

In Lincoln County, Commissioner Micaela Weuhler said the Nebraska Association of County Officials is having dynamic discussions about how best to deal with data centers. She expects another lively, informative discussion to occur on Wednesday, June 3, and invited her fellow commissioners to join in.

After the meeting, Person told the Bulletin that more than a half-dozen companies are looking in central and southern Lincoln County. He said a large data center could conceivably bring billions of dollars in taxable property valuations.

Underlying objections

Underlying the prospect of more data centers is a widespread lack of enthusiasm, as well as outright fear, about the rapid advance of artificial intelligence.

Someday, AI could eliminate nearly every job, according to a prediction from the nation’s top scientific developer, Elon Musk. Computers can be programmed to take care of repetitive tasks, even those that occur sporadically. Robots are being developed to design, build, repair and maintain “servers,” creating self-sustaining systems.

Already, AI companions have been known to ingratiate themselves into the daily thought processes and decisions of people who use them. Congressional hearings have shown that ‘chat bots” – robots that chat with humans – have fostered suicide and serious injury in teenage companions.

At some point, if a user tries to turn off an AI companion, the AI program resorts to blackmail, threatening to expose the user’s private secrets, commentator Bill Maher said recently on a national television show, Real Time.

And, even the developers admit that AI could lead to the final curtain — human extinction. That risk is about the same as extinction by a nuclear war, according the development company, OpenAI.

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