CANTON, S.D. (KELO) — As data centers look to make their way into Lincoln County, the county’s elected commissioners were able to inform the public about a possible delay of any future construction.
Lincoln County Commissioner Joel Arends brought forth the idea to vote on a one-year temporary moratorium on new construction of AI hyperscale data centers.
This comes as Sioux Falls faces a possible public vote on a zoning decision for a data center and the Legislature considers how much regulation data centers should face in South Dakota and whether they should be eligible for state tax breaks.
The southern end of Sioux Falls is part of Lincoln County.
“By law, the moratorium will only apply to the unincorporated areas of the county. It will not include city jurisdictions because under South Dakota law, cities have jurisdiction within their limits,” Arends said.
“I’m inclined to deviate down to 50 megawatts, as there is no traditional data center here in Lincoln County using that much energy. And as such, anything above that would probably be out of the ordinary,” Arends said.
Arends says implementing the moratorium is good governance, allowing the residents to have an informed discussion about the possibility of data centers. The pause allows time for the commission to properly investigate the matter because it has a social, cultural, and technological impact.
“The reason for the moratorium, and my belief is I want residents to play a role in the decision-making process on the front end of these projects,” Arends said. “I want citizens to have a hand in creating the standards and conditions before any type of zoning application is filed.”
Although Tuesday’s meeting was just about whether the commission should set a date for a public hearing, the public had a chance to share their support for the commission’s call to action.
“The only reason why anybody would want this to be rushed through is for corruption or something like that. Nobody in Lincoln County wants this at all. We’re not all billionaires in Silicon Valley, nobody here paying taxes in this district wants this at all. I definitely support minimum a year,” rural Lincoln County resident Amanda Gentry said.
The next hearing to officially vote on the moratorium is set for February 24 in Canton.
