HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-08-31 Kau'i Young Support Testimony
From: kauiyoung
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Support Bill 170
Date: Monday, August 31, 2026 10:25:01 PM
My name is Kauʻi and I live in Keālia. 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.
The specific language I am asking the commission to recommend:
"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."
I have witnessed communities all over America battle against the debilitating and destructive effects of hyperscale data centers—the loss of water, the loss of health, and the loss of dignity
in favor of corporate greed. Imposed on an island with limited unpolluted, freshwater sources, such diabolical technology would ruin our home and harm our people and ʻāina grievously and
irrevocably. Our local leadership must stand strong and stand in favor of protecting our collective wellbeing.
Our island's closed water system, fossil-fuel dependent grid, and already strained infrastructure cannot support hyperscale data centers. Please recommend the strongest possible
version of this bill to the County Council.
Mahalo,
Kauʻi Young
Keālia, Hawaiʻi
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