Mayor Cara Spencer laid out the City of St. Louis’ plans to tackle data center concerns through an executive order on Thursday.
Spencer said the executive order will see the city develop a framework for data centers over the next five months while being open to potential new data center project proposals.
“We want to be open for business,” Spencer said. “We recognize that data centers play a role in — an important role — in the technology infrastructure that forward-thinking, forward-moving cities need to have as part of an ecosystem that can attract other types of technology companies and technology innovation to their communities.”
The decision came after city officials discussed a possible temporary ban on data center proposals in St. Louis. Spencer said the city will work on a thoughtful framework for incorporating data centers into its zoning and water codes.
“The data, the information that's being required, is going to put us on the path to a really thoughtful regulation here,” Spencer said.
Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer said discussed the matter on Wednesday evening.
“It’s about moving thoughtfully — not rapidly — and it's about getting answers to the questions that we have, as opposed to just stopping everything, period,” Schweitzer said of the plan, which she added will use the framework of the city’s existing conditional use process to address data center concerns.
In August, St. Charles officials put a yearlong moratorium on any data center development after public outcry over a secretive $1 billion data center proposal. Records uncovered by St. Louis Public Radio showed Google may be behind the project, which would have marked its second in Missouri. A $10 billion data center project in Kansas City is currently under construction.
Schweitzer initially called for a temporary ban on data center development, mirroring St. Charles officials’ decision. But she said Wednesday evening, after discussions with city leaders, that rather than put a stop to any proposals, the city hopes to evaluate data center projects as they appear.
“The point of a moratorium was really because we felt like we (didn’t) have a lot of answers to a lot of questions that are being asked,” Schweitzer said. “The city is working towards putting together thoughtful and comprehensive regulations, and in the meantime, plans to get many questions answered about any data centers that are being considered in the city of St. Louis through the conditional use process.”
She stressed that the city won’t allow any data centers to receive a permit without going through a public hearing going forward. Previously, data center proposals did not always receive public hearings due to the city’s conditional use rules.
The decision comes a week after a memo, written by St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency Executive Director Don Roe, said the city's nearly 70-year-old zoning code cannot adequately manage the complex land use concerns brought by data center projects.
Roe included the memo as an informational item ahead of a Planning Commission meeting last week at which Schweitzer and other members discussed data centers.
Roe suggested the city consider “rapidly” enacting zoning regulations to address the land use concerns brought by data centers — including 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.
Energy demand estimates for these data centers are unprecedented. In the memo, Roe writes the proposed data center in Midtown 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 currently considering proposals from Ameren and Evergy on how electric companies will 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.
In the memo, Roe also called into question their long-term benefits.
“Like any new construction project, a data center’s construction will create valuable jobs for the period of construction,” Roe wrote. “However, permanent jobs associated with data centers are very limited; compared to traditional industrial uses, very large data centers require only a small number of people to secure and manage the building.”
Following that meeting, Spencer said that while she supported a temporary moratorium on data center development in St. Louis, the city didn’t plan to ban the projects permanently.
“While I have concerns about data centers' effects on the environment, utility prices, vibrancy and urban living, I also recognize their importance to key industries in St. Louis,” said Spencer at the time.
Currently, there are at least 12 data centers in the city, and a project has been proposed for Green Street property near the vacant Armory building.
This story was updated with additional information from a press conference Thursday morning with St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer.
