Getting It Right: Local Approaches to Data Center Development

A new resource from the Southern Environmental Law Center demystifies one of the best—and sometimes only—tools to ensure responsible data center development: local zoning authority.

Data centers are an increasingly prominent part of our modern society and can power valuable services. But they are also extremely resource-intensive and can consume vast amounts of energy, water, and land. Their explosive growth in the Southeast and elsewhere is putting tremendous pressure on energy systems, electricity rates, water supplies, and natural and historic resources, while often generating significant air and noise pollution.

Local zoning authority often provides communities with their best opportunity to exert any meaningful influence over data center development. This report offers various considerations for using zoning ordinances and local advocacy to address the unique challenges data centers present and to promote transparent and accountable decision-making about these facilities.

Section One explores some of the community and environmental impacts that data centers can cause. Section Two discusses various options for how local zoning ordinances can effectively empower local governing bodies to address data center development in an informed, responsible, and transparent way. Section Three discusses real-world examples of data center-specific development requirements that could be included in zoning ordinances. Finally, Section Four offers suggestions on how communities can engage most effectively on individual data center proposals.

Combining thoughtful zoning ordinances with smart public involvement is one of the best strategies currently available for shaping responsible data center development, and it is one that all localities confronting this growing challenge should be pursuing.