Cle Elum passed a data center ban. One might be built there anyway

The council approved the pause unanimously Friday, saying the city needs time to study and write new regulations for how large computing facilities could affect electricity, water, fire protection, noise and the local economy.

But officials cautioned that the moratorium may not stop the project that helped prompt it.

Blue Fern Development plans to build a 100,000-square-foot data center within a large residential and commercial development under construction near Interstate 90. The company presented the proposal July 28 as a relatively small “research sized data center,” rather than the massive campuses proposed elsewhere. For example, Microsoft is building data centers in Chelan County that could be more than 10 times larger, both in terms of land and power use.

Blue Fern representative Ben Paulus said the facility would use about 20 megawatts of electricity, employ 20 to 40 people full-time and cost about $200 million, providing significant property tax revenue. Paulus said the data center would use a “closed loop” cooling system requiring about 80,000 gallons of water in its first year and much less afterward because it recirculates the same cooling liquid.

Puget Sound Energy, the utility that serves electricity to Cle Elum, was supportive, saying it conducted a thorough review of this 20 MW project and determined it could be reliably served, with the customer funding the infrastructure upgrades necessary to protect existing customers from cost increases.

Some council members were skeptical.

Councilmember Beth Williams said the council would have to research “if the statements that were made by Blue Fern are accurate and what are the true realities of a facility that they were describing.”

Council members moved quickly to adopt a data center moratorium, citing potential effects like power demand, water consumption, mechanical noise, heat and emergency generators.

However, Blue Fern’s proposed 20-megawatt data center may be reviewed under older rules because the site is covered by a preexisting development agreement. The city must still decide whether a data center qualifies as an already permitted commercial or industrial use.

Councilmember Steven Harper warned residents that the moratorium was “not a magical Band-Aid” and could not necessarily override the development agreement.

“I don’t want to create an illusion,” Harper said, “that this addresses the concerns that I’m hearing many from the public.”

The city will form an advisory committee to study power capacity, water, wastewater, taxes, jobs and other effects. A public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 8.