HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-02 Shaina Sarono Support Testimony
From: Shaina Sarono
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Bill 170 Hawai"i Island resident testimony
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 1:16:51 PM
Aloha Mai Kakou,
My name is Shaina Sarono and I live in Kea'au, Hawai'i. 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.
As a kama'aina many generations deep in Hawai'i, I am very concerned about the direction we
are headed in our already strained environmental capacity with a long history of land and resource mismanagement and exploitation. Without clean land and WATER, we and future
generations will not survive in a healthy way. We are already maxed out with the cost of living and dependency on imported materials. Please do what is right to ensure our island and
people's health and safety.
Our island cannot afford to get this wrong. Please I implore that you recommend the strongest
possible version of this bill.
Mahalo,
Shaina Sarono from Kea'au, Hawai'i