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Home My WebLink About2026-09-08 Allison Nemenyi Shiozaki Support Testimony From: Allison Shiozaki To: Planning LPC Testimony Subject: STRONG LANGUAGE BANNING DATA CENTERS Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026 11:30:17 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 writing again to submit 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. It really important that the wording that examines wattage and water consumption, not just square footage. 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. Look around: weʻve had two major hurricanes in Hawaiʻi in a months time. Climate change is HERE. The Pacific north west has been on FIRE, thousands dead in Nepal, storms have taken out power in Gary, Indiana all while data centers hum along, never skipping a beat, all while poisoning the water, polluting the air for people already experiencing environmental racism…and HEATING THE PLANET. We already pay the most for electricity within the United States. Kaʻū is on a water advisory. The ʻāina hasnʻt been cared for and “reap what you sow”, those who did the reaping, but most often those who didnʻt decide that are paying the consequenes. If you live in Kona, and youʻre not trying everything you can do to protect clean water, what are you doing here? TO THEN ALLOW data centers here would be like pouring gasoline on the fire. We literally can NOT over react. This quite frankly is life or death level decision here. Our island cannot afford to get this wrong. Please recommend the strongest possible version of this bill. Mahalo, Allison Nemenyi Shiozaki Mountain View, Olaʻa