HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-02 Jennifer Patino Support Testimony
From: Jennifer Patino
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Bill 170
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 3:26:37 PM
My name is Jennifer Patino and I live in Kailua Kona. I am writing in strong support of Bill
170 and asking the Windward Planning Commission to recommend one additional strengthening change before sending it back to the County Council.
... The original Bill 170 language uses subjective phrases like "industrial-scale operation" and
"beyond that typically accessory or incidental to office, commercial, or public institutional uses" that a well-resourced developer's attorney can argue around. The definition below
replaces that subjectivity with objective physical criteria and a clear 20 megawatt threshold that cannot be disputed.
Cooling, power, and support infrastructure, including but not limited to servers, network
equipment and appliances, telecommunications equipment, data storage systems, systems for monitoring and managing infrastructure performance, environmental controls, fire protection
systems, security systems, electrical substations, generators, and redundant power supplies; and which requires or is designed to require 20 megawatts or more of electrical capacity at full
build-out. This definition includes 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. This term includes facilities commonly described as large-scale, hyperscale, neocloud, and artificial intelligence data centers and colocation
campuses. This term does not include telecommunications facilities regulated under Section 25-4-12, hospital or government data systems, university educational and research facilities, or
business offices in which servers are incidental to the primary use."
This matters to me - like most residents, I oppose data centers for many reasons, including how precarious our grid systems is. Our water is precious and limited and I don’t want it
wasted and polluted by data centers cooling needs. We already pay the highest electricity rates in the nation and can’t afford additional increases - period!
I moved to this island, in part, to avoid these kinds of crazy things that are happening on the
mainland and do not want to experience them on our slice our heaven - the Big Island. Thank you for your consideration and please fight to prevent data centers from our islands.
Please recommend the strongest possible version of Bill 170 to the City Council. Mahalo,
Jennifer Patino Kailua Kona HI 96740