St. Louis’ Planning Commission recommended a temporary ban on developing new data centers while the city's staff works to better understand their implications.
The decision came after a presentation from City Planning Executive Miriam Keller on issues the city might run into without quick action regarding new data center projects.
Currently, 12 data centers are in use in the city, most of which are located downtown.
Keller told committee members that city planning and zoning staff members are operating at a “severe information disadvantage” when it comes to data center developments. She said that with how quickly developers are proposing data centers, staff and officials need more time to create rules for possible projects and land use.
A major data center issue, Keller said, is the city's aging zoning codes. The codes haven’t been meaningfully updated since the 1950s, and city officials are currently overhauling them through an 18-month project.
“Our code has no definition for data centers and, of course, no site requirements or other conditions to guide where they go, what their character is, if they're successfully integrated into the surrounding context,” she said. “We have kind of no tools right now for doing that. That is why the commission made this a priority.”
Board members shared concerns with Keller over the possibility of data centers, large and small, popping up throughout the city, as well as concerns over how they might affect the city's energy efficiency efforts.
The board voted unanimously to urge the Board of Aldermen to put the moratorium in place but did not suggest a timeframe. It’s not clear when or if the board will vote on a ban.
In an information memo for the committee released earlier this week, St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency Executive Director Don Roe wrote that a temporary moratorium on data center development may be in the public interest.
“A time-limited moratorium would mean that no new permits would be accepted while the City develops a full understanding of the issue and develops quality land use, environmental, and other regulations,” Roe wrote.
Roe suggested an amendment to ensure data centers are not put in "inappropriate locations” in the interim and an update to a benchmarking ordinance that would ensure transparency over large data centers’ energy use.
The potential energy demand of these data centers is unprecedented. Roe noted that a proposed data center in midtown St. Louis could use as much energy as 13,000 homes, “roughly the number of homes as in Shaw, Tower Grove South, and Tower Grove East combined.”
State utility regulators are considering proposals from Ameren and Evergy on how electric companies would work with these huge data centers. State lawmakers passed legislation this year requiring the utilities to develop terms of service to ensure regular customers’ rates don’t rise because of data centers.
Last month, the St. Charles City Council unanimously passed its own one-year ban on data centers. The resolution puts a moratorium on the acceptance of new applications for the projects.
The move came after St. Charles residents strongly opposed a data center project up for approval to be built near Highway 370. Neighbors turned out to public meetings to voice concerns over the project’s secrecy and its impact on water and energy.
The project’s developer, CRG, pulled its application for a conditional use permit. CRG President Christopher P. McKee said the company would work “to incorporate recent community feedback” and come back with a revised proposal for the project.
The end user of the project has still not been named, but St. Louis Public Radio found documents linking the project to Google.
St. Charles officials signed nondisclosure agreements with Spark Innovations, which was involved in the early stages of a recently unveiled Google data center in West Memphis, Arkansas. The managers of that LLC have also been involved in the early stages of Google data center projects in Kansas City, Indianapolis and northern Virginia.
Kate Grumke contributed to this report.
