HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-02 Victoria Felt Support Testimony
From: Victoria Felt
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Data Center / Bill 170 Testimony
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 6:28:07 PM
Aloha Windward Planning Commission,
I'm Victoria Felt of Volcano, Hawai'i. I am submitting testimony in strong support of
Bill 170 and urging your commission to specify the definition of "hyperscale data
center" before sending it back to the County Council, in order to make it far more
difficult for a developer to build a data center.
Specifically I am asking the commission to recommend this language:
"Hyperscale data center means any facility or campus of facilities whose primary
purpose is the housing, operation, or co-location of computer servers, networking
equipment, and associated 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."
The 20 megawatt threshold creates a bright line that cannot be disputed. The campus
language ensures a developer cannot game that threshold by building multiple smaller
facilities side by side on adjacent parcels under common ownership. Together these
two elements make the prohibition meaningful and durable.
Our island requires a balance of resource usage to keep people safe and the
environment in harmony. Data centers do not belong here, with their high energy and
freshwater usage.
Our island cannot afford to get this wrong. Please recommend the strongest possible
version of this bill.
Mahalo,
Victoria Felt
Knots In The Pines
Adventure Wedding Photographer and Planner