HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-01 Allison Nemenyi Shiozaki Support Testimony
From: Allison Shiozaki
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Ban Data Centers
Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2026 11:07:02 PM
Aloha e to those who sit on the Windward Planning Commission,
My name is Allison Shiozaki and I live in Mountain View, Olaʻa, Moku O Keawe.
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.
The original bill defines a data center using subjective language that a developer's
attorney can argue around in court. I am asking the commission to recommend a
definition that is objective and airtight, grounded in what the facility physically
contains and how much power it draws.
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.
Ola i ka wai. Water is life. Through ʻōlelo we know, wai-wai, wealth is inter-related to
abundance of fresh, clean water. The future of life on this island cannot be said in less
than certain terms. The catastrophes we are witnessing on island and around the
globe are results of actions that did not reflect respect to ʻāina, wai, and lani: a livable
planet requires swift and decisive action, and the decisions made now quite literally
can be the difference between life and death for not so distance future generations, it
is already here. We cannot allow capitalist visions of future (which feel frankly quite
dystopic) over the very obvious requirements of life and respect to land, water, and
skies, and the clear messages of our host culture.
Our island cannot afford to get this wrong. Please recommend the strongest possible
version of this bill.
Mahalo,
Allison Nemenyi Shiozaki
Mountain View, Olaʻa