El Paso City Council Establishes New Guidelines for Data Centers

The El Paso City Council has approved a new Data Center Policy Framework aimed at regulating future hyperscale data center projects in the city. This framework, developed over six months of public engagement and research, addresses community concerns about water usage, electricity demand, and environmental impacts. It mandates that future data center applications secure a Special Permit, ensuring public involvement and adherence to enhanced environmental standards. Notably, the policy eliminates local economic incentives for data centers and promotes Community Benefit Agreements to support local priorities. Although the framework aims to protect residents and infrastructure, it will not affect the ongoing construction of a Meta data center in Northeast El Paso, which has faced community opposition.

Key Details: • Framework requires future data centers to obtain a Special Permit for public review. • Community meetings gathered over 2,300 comments influencing the policy. • No local economic incentives for future data centers; encourages Community Benefit Agreements. • Framework aims to protect water, energy, and ecological resources. • Current Meta data center construction in Northeast El Paso is unaffected.