HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-02 JJ Wassell Support Testimony
From: JJ Wassell
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Bill 170 Testimony
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 9:38:38 PM
Aloha Windward Planning Commission,
My name is JJ Wassell, and I now live in Hilo. I am submitting testimony in strong support
of Bill 170 and urging the Windward Planning Commission to recommend a stronger
definition of "hyperscale data center" before sending it back to the County Council.
“Hyperscale data center” means a facility used for the industrial-scale operation of
computer systems and associated equipment for the processing, computing,
transmission, or dissemination of digital data that requires supporting infrastructure
beyond that typically accessory or incidental to office, commercial, or public and private
institutional uses[.], including a single facility and any campus of multiple facilities on
contiguous or adjacent parcels under common ownership or control whose combined
electrical demand meets or exceeds 20 megawatts and is described as a large-scale,
hyperscale, neocloud, and/or artificial intelligence data center, but not including data
processing facilities as defined in Section 25-1-5, telecommunications facilities
regulated under Section 25-4-12, hospital or government data systems, and university
computing educational and/or research facilities, and those utilizing artificial
intelligence as a support to information systems and business offices in which servers
are incidental to the primary use.”
Watching other towns in the continental US fight for clean water and sound pollution
after a hyperscale data center was built in their community is becoming more common
as people experience the impacts of AI hyperscale data centers. Other states have
pushed back because of severe environmental and physical impacts on rural
communities. Our land is young and cannot filter contamination. Current land use
significantly impacts our reefs; this would be catastrophic.
Our island cannot afford to allow legal loopholes. Please recommend the strongest
possible version of this bill.
Mahalo,
JJ Wassell, Computer Scientist and resident of the Big Island for 44 years
Sent from Earth1