HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-08-31 Bob Douglas Support Testimony (2)From:
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Support Bill 170 2nd comment
Date: Monday, August 31, 2026 7:06:35 PM
Aloha Members of the Board,
I urge you to look very carefully at any claims that a proposed data center will provide substantial numbers of
permanent, high-paying local jobs.
These promises may sound impressive during the approval process, but unless they are accompanied by enforceable
commitments, they may amount to little more than vaporware.
Data centers are highly technical facilities during their construction, commissioning and startup phases. They require
skilled engineers, electricians, controls specialists, network personnel and other highly qualified workers to bring
complex electrical, cooling and computing systems online.
But the employment picture can change substantially once a facility is commissioned and operating normally.
Outsourcing is already widespread within the data-center industry. Uptime Institute has reported that 74% of data-
center operators surveyed outsourced at least some facilities-related functions. Major facilities-management
companies openly market outsourced data-center operations as a means of controlling operating costs.
This creates an important question that this Board should ask before assigning significant public benefit to promises
of high-paying employment:
How many of these jobs are guaranteed to remain permanent, direct, well-compensated local positions after the data
center reaches steady-state operation?
There is nothing inherently improper about using contractors. The concern arises when high-paying jobs are
presented to government and the public as justification for approving a project, while the developer retains the
ability to outsource those positions later.
A worker can continue maintaining the same generators, UPS systems, switchgear, cooling equipment and building-
management systems in the same facility while his or her employer, compensation, benefits and employment
security change dramatically.
That distinction is particularly important for Hawaiʻi.
If our community is being asked to accept the very real and permanent impacts of a data center—including
substantial electrical demand, infrastructure requirements, land use and potentially significant cooling requirements
—then the employment benefits being offered in exchange should be equally real and durable.
The environmental and infrastructure impacts cannot be outsourced after five years. They remain here.
The promised community benefits should remain here as well.
I therefore urge the Board not simply to accept a projected number of “jobs.” Ask the developer to provide, in
writing:
1. The number of permanent jobs expected after construction and commissioning are complete.
2. The number that will be direct employees of the data-center operator rather than contractors or subcontractors.
3. The anticipated salary ranges and benefits for those permanent positions.
4. The number of positions that are expected to be filled by Hawaiʻi residents.
5. Whether the operator intends to outsource facilities operations after commissioning or after specified performance
milestones are achieved.
6. Whether the developer will agree to continuing public reporting of direct employees, contractors, compensation
ranges and Hawaiʻi-resident employment. 7. Most importantly, whether these employment commitments will be incorporated into enforceable conditions of approval rather than remaining projections in presentations and economic-impact studies.
If a developer is unwilling to make those commitments, the Board should ask why the promised high-paying jobs should be counted as a significant public benefit in the first place.
A projection is not a guarantee.
A construction job is not a permanent operations job.
A contractor position is not necessarily equivalent to a direct position with salary, healthcare, retirement benefits and long-term employment security.
And a promise made while seeking approval is only as valuable as the commitment to honor it after approval has been granted.
Hawaiʻi should not be asked to make permanent commitments of its land, electrical infrastructure and natural resources in exchange for employment benefits that the developer remains free to substantially reduce or outsource later.
If these high-paying permanent jobs are truly one of the principal benefits of this project, there should be no objection to putting those promises in writing and making them enforceable.
Mahalo for your consideration.
Aloha,
Bob Douglas danhieux18@icloud.com Instagram.com/danhieux 808 333-0402