HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-08-31 Kristen Young Support Testimony
From: Kristen Young
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Testimony in support of Bill 170
Date: Monday, August 31, 2026 4:26:59 PM
Aloha,
My name is Kristen Young and I live in Makiki, O‘ahu. 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."
Data centers are going up everywhere. I see us investing in housing data and technology instead of our own people who are unhoused. I see precious water being directed to data centers rather than to people who are without clean water. I see signs of climate crisis all around. We should be very concerned and careful about unsustainable technologies that enter our communities and do everything possible to protect our environment, resources, and people.
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, Kristen Young Honolulu, Hawai‘i