Why Should Delaware Care?
The popularity of artificial intelligence has sparked a boom in demand for facilities, called data center, that house the computer servers that power the internet. But those facilities have also drawn criticism from local communities for their water and electricity usage. A massive proposed project in Delaware could bring hundreds of jobs but also raise energy prices for all residents.
The New Castle County Council now faces competing proposals to regulate the emerging data center industry.
On Monday, Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick introduced legislation that would defang many of the rules proposed within a pending data center ordinance, including those around noise and energy efficiency.
The County Council could vote on the ordinance and its amendments during its regular meeting on Tuesday evening. Or they could be tabled and voted on later.
Kilpatrick’s proposal – the most consequential of several last-minute amendments to the data center ordinance – also states that “all resubdivision plan applications are exempted from this Ordinance regardless of the submission date to the County.”
The language appears to permit certain existing structures, such as warehouses, to convert to data centers without being subject to new regulations.
Kilpatrick did not respond on Monday to a request to comment for this story.
Get Involved
The New Castle County Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday inside its chambers located at 800 N. French St. in Wilmington. For additional details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Her amendment comes three months after Councilman Dave Carter introduced the original ordinance amid public outcry over a plan to build a massive data center near Delaware City.
In response, his ordinance included a sweeping set of rules designed to regulate the booming data center industry, powered in recent years by the promised riches of artificial intelligence.
But, earlier this month, several New Castle County councilmembers denounced the ordinance because it would have retroactively imposed the new rules onto the Delaware City data center plan.
In response to the pushback from his colleagues and from organized labor, Carter amended the proposal on Friday to remove the retroactivity clause.
But Kilpatrick wants to see Carter’s legislation changed further.
Her amendment removes or limits regulations related to buffer zones around data centers, and to the types of backup energy generators that could be used at such facilities. The proposal does keep certain regulations from Carter’s original ordinance, such as a ban on a type of cooling system that continuously pumps water in from the surrounding environment.
On Monday, Carter said Kilpatrick’s amendment would essentially kill his legislation, arguing that it removes its key regulations.
“It’s on life support,” Carter said of his legislation.
As a result, Carter said he may delay the council’s vote on the ordinance, beyond Tuesday’s meeting. A delay would give the public time to understand Kilpatrick’s amendment, he said.
A co-sponsor on the ordinance, Councilman John Cartier, also suggested that delaying the votes on Kilpatrick’s and Carter’s competing versions of the ordinance would be ideal.
He said he was dismayed by Kilpatrick’s amendment, fearing it could result in the conversion of an empty Claymont warehouse into a large data center.
Nationally such facilities “are popping up like mushrooms,” he said.
