HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-03 Claresa Asuncion Support Testimony
From: Claresa Asuncion
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Data Center / Bill 170 Testimony and Info
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026 1:58:19 AM
Aloha Mai Kākou,
O Claresa Lynn Makalapua Asuncion koʻu inoa. Noho au o Puna, Hawaiʻi Island. 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.
We must not only remeber “Ua mau ka ea o ka ʻĀina i ka pono” as a saying. But also a call to remind us to act and live out this ideal. We must understand our kuleana to ʻĀina and the
reciprocal relationship we have with it. The future of our keiki depwnd on it
Our island cannot afford to get this wrong. Please recommend the strongest possible version of this bill.
Mahalo,
Claresa Lynn Makalpua Asuncion
Ōlaʻa, Hawaiʻi Island
-- Peace, Love & Aloha,
Claresa