MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Skagit County commissioners held a public hearing to discuss a six-month moratorium on data centers in the county’s unincorporated areas.
The moratorium, which was approved last month, aims to protect farmland and water resources amid local demand to keep such facilities out.
The temporary ban allows the county’s planning department to develop specific regulations and code language for data centers before any permit applications are accepted.
While the county has not yet received any formal proposals, leaders are preparing for potential interest due to increasing demand for artificial intelligence technology.
The moratorium applies to facilities larger than 2,000 square feet with an electrical load of two megawatts or more.
To provide context, two megawatts can supply electricity to approximately 600 homes for an entire day. Skagit County Commissioner Peter Browning stated that the county is taking a proactive approach to potential development.
“We’re just making sure that we’re prepared in case and if they come, we want to be able to say these are the conditions you must meet,” Browning said.
Residents and county leaders share concerns about the potential impact of data centers on local farmland, as well as their significant energy and water consumption for cooling systems.
Skagit County Commissioner Joe Burns emphasized the importance of environmental preservation.
“If we want to protect our environment and make sure that we are preserving this to be a place that our kids can continue to enjoy then we need to be very careful about what we allowed to be built here in the future,” Burns said.
When asked why Skagit County would be an attractive place for a data center, Browning responded that the area is “inexpensive land and it just all comes down to where can you find a piece of land this inexpensive?”
Rebecca Peck, a resident of Bow, expressed a similar sentiment regarding outside interest.
“They all want to come here because land is less expensive, they think we’re a bunch of local yokels who don’t know what’s going on,” Peck said.
Commissioner Burns further elaborated on the suitability of certain areas for these developments, particularly concerning floodplains.
“My concern is that there’s a right place for each thing that we build in this country and Skagit County has a lot of floodplain and is it really appropriate to put large sums of electronics in an area that might flood when it could just be left as farmland and used to produce food for all of our communities?” Burns said.
County commissioners have the option to renew the moratorium after its initial six-month period, if needed.
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