Rocky Mountain Voice

Colorado Cities Wrestle With Costs and Benefits of Data Center Expansion

By Alayna Alvarez | Axios Denver

Colorado communities are taking dramatically different approaches to the boom in data center development, with a patchwork of moratoriums, incentives and new restrictions.

Why it matters: The local experimentation is filling a vacuum left by state lawmakers, who failed last legislative session to agree on how Colorado should regulate the resource-hungry facilities.

State of play: The fragmentation sets up another potential fight at the Colorado State Capitol next year over how to capture the upside of data center development without saddling communities with their enormous electricity, water and infrastructure demands.

Driving the news: Denver — which already has 50 data centers — has halted new development until May 21, 2027, as it writes new rules.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT AXIOS DENVER