Why Should Delaware Care?
A boom in the construction of data centers to power the artificial intelligence industry has sparked a nationwide backlash over fears that the facilities’ electricity use could cause power bills to surge. New Castle County’s new ordinance is the latest attempt in Delaware to stop that from happening.
The New Castle County Council on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed its second ordinance regulating data centers — with little debate.
If signed by County Executive Marcus Henry, the new ordinance will mandate that any developer who wants to build a large energy-use facility, including data centers, first prove that there will be enough electricity and transmission infrastructure to support it.
Councilman Dave Carter, the ordinance’s sponsor, said the measure is meant to prevent large energy users from raising the electric bills for homes and businesses, which can occur when there is a massive new demand on power.
The new rule does not apply retroactively, meaning data center proposals already in the county’s approval pipeline will not be subject to it. Still, those pending plans have largely been stalled in the face of resident opposition and state regulations.
The passage of the ordinance comes after more than a year of discussion and debate in Delaware over how the fast-growing industry could impact energy costs. In response, state and local governments have passed several new rules designed to slow the industry’s growth.
A day before New Castle County adopted its new regulation, Dover approved an ordinance to impose a moratorium on data center construction.
During the New Castle County meeting Tuesday, council members posed few questions about the ordinance, marking a sharp contrast from an acrimonious debate over the first slate of data center regulations that the county passed earlier this year.
At that time, dozens of union members associated with the Delaware Building Trades filled the County Council chambers during meetings to lobby against the regulations.
No such pressure was applied on Tuesday.
“It was a lot easier to get this piece through, which tells me how much the public sentiment has changed,” Carter said in an interview.
The first set of regulations was also more expansive. It included new rules that require data centers to maintain buffer zones around them, and to use energy-efficient backup generators, among other requirements.
The newest ordinance also is similar to a law that the state legislature passed in June. That law requires large energy users, such as data centers, to enter into energy service agreements meant to ensure they pay the full costs of the electricity they use.
If a developer can’t agree to the terms of that agreement, then a utility would not have to provide power to it, the law states.
Carter said he thinks his ordinance is necessary to make sure the county and state approval processes are aligned.
“This is a helpful tool to make sure that we are in sync,” Carter said during the Tuesday meeting.
