Idaho city approves 6-month moratorium on large data center construction

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — A standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 people applauded after the Boise City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to place a six-month moratorium on the construction of large new data centers.

The moratorium went into effect immediately, and applies to all data center projects that are 100,000 square-feet or larger, or use 20 megawatts of power. 

Passing the moratorium means Boise will not accept or process any applications for large data centers that fall within the moratorium’s parameters.

“It’s a six-month moratorium that will put the brakes on hyperscale data centers in Boise, so it gives us the time to better determine and understand the impacts that these will have,” said Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, who proposed the moratorium Friday. 

McLean said the city does not currently have any large data center applications pending.

“I’m doing this now before we have an application so that we can be sure that we get it right,” McLean said. 

Boise city officials will use the moratorium to review code and policies, study the impact on water, energy use, wastewater, noise and public safety, and gather public feedback.

Chief of Staff Hannah Brass Greer said Boise’s existing code does not address data centers.

“One of the things we would be doing is looking at our code and where it would fit and what restrictions or guidelines we want to put in place,” Brass Greer said. 

The Boise City Council approved the emergency moratorium following an approximately one-hour public hearing during its meeting Tuesday at Boise City Hall. 

‘Don’t sell off our future to the highest bidder’: Public testimony supported the pause

Everyone who spoke during the public hearing either supported the data center moratorium or asked city leaders to go even farther. 

“Just please don’t sell off our future to the highest bidder,” Sydney Hair told the Boise City Council. “I am very concerned about this. AI has taken so much from my generation and it is taking so much from the planet.”

Mia Benson, a junior at Marsing High School and a fellow at the Idaho Climate Justice League, urged council members to approve the moratorium and develop strict permanent regulations around data center construction. 

“I encourage the city of Boise to collaborate with the local community to develop accountability policies within the next coming months that require future data center projects to cover 100% of their power costs, use 100% clean energy, pay 100% of their taxes and be 100% transparent on anything that impacts the public,” Benson said. “Data centers are not worth the intense pollution and depletion of our water resources.”

Officials from several groups including the Golden Eagle Audubon Society, Conservation Voters for Idaho, the Idaho Conservation League, the Wilderness Society and Idaho Data Center Reform, added their support to the moratorium.

“Given the potential long-term and irreversible impacts these centers may have on our landscapes and lives, we applaud the foresight this ordinance provides,” Cynthia Wallace of the Golden Eagle Audubon Society said. “Voting to approve this ordinance could also inspire other governments to preemptively evaluate and regulate data center permit requests.”

Nobody spoke in favor of data centers or urged the Boise City Council to reconsider the moratorium. 

Lisa Young, director of the Idaho Chapter of the Sierra Club, applauded McLean and the Boise City Council for taking on data centers.  

“We commend Mayor McLean for hearing the growing concerns of Boiseans and proposing a moratorium on data centers within Idaho’s largest municipality, and we hope this will encourage other neighboring cities and Ada County to do the same,” Young said in a written statement. 

Data centers – and their energy use, water use and impact on wildlife – have become hot-button public issues in Idaho.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, recently turned on a new data center south of Kuna.

Meanwhile, Conservation Voters for Idaho Executive Director Ryan McGoldrick told the Idaho Capital Sun he is monitoring multiple data center proposals across Idaho. That includes a proposed 4-million-square-foot Rhea Data data center proposed south of Boise that the Washington Sun broke the news of and another data center proposed outside of Twin Falls. 

The Boise City Council is not the first local government entity in Idaho to place a moratorium on data center construction.

In July, the Bannock County Board of Commissioners in eastern Idaho signed a 180-day moratorium on accepting or processing data center permit applications to give officials time to study and draft a comprehensive data center ordinance.