HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-11 Mark Prescott SupportFrom: Mark Prescott
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Testimony Bill 170
Date: Friday, September 11, 2026 3:16:51 PM
Aloha Members of the Windward Planning Commission,
My name is Mark Prescott. I live in Pāhoa and operate Hawaiian
Beaches Water Company in Pāhoa. I am writing in strong support
of Bill 170 and asking the Windward Planning Commission to
recommend one additional strengthening amendment before
sending the bill back to the Hawaiʻi County Council.
The original language of Bill 170 uses subjective phrases such as
“industrial-scale operation” and “beyond that typically accessory
or incidental to office, commercial, or public institutional uses.”
These phrases leave room for a well-resourced developer to argue
that a proposed facility falls outside the bill’s intended scope. The
definition should instead rely on objective physical criteria and a
clear 20-megawatt threshold.
I respectfully request that the following definition be
incorporated into the bill:
“Data center” means a facility whose primary purpose is to house
servers, network equipment and appliances, telecommunications
equipment, data-storage systems, systems for monitoring and
managing infrastructure performance, and associated cooling,
power, and support infrastructure, including but not limited to
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 located on contiguous or adjacent parcels under
common ownership or control whose combined electrical
demand meets or exceeds 20 megawatts. The term includes
facilities commonly described as large-scale, hyperscale,
neocloud, or artificial-intelligence data centers and colocation
campuses.
The 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.”
This matters deeply to me both as a resident and as the operator
of a community water system. Our recent storms have again
demonstrated how vulnerable Hawaiʻi Island’s electrical grid is.
With both the Hāmākua generating facility and geothermal
generation offline, a large portion of the island lost power.
Communities and essential services were forced to rely on
backup generators and limited fuel supplies simply to continue
operating.
At Hawaiian Beaches Water Company, electricity is not an
abstract infrastructure issue—it is what allows us to pump and
deliver water to our community of 1400 homes. When the grid
fails, maintaining that essential service depends on generators,
fuel availability, staff access, and equipment continuing to
function under difficult conditions. Residents already pay some
of the highest electricity rates in the nation while living with a
grid that can struggle during storms and major generation
outages. Adding enormous, round-the-clock electrical demand
from hyperscale or artificial-intelligence data centers could place
even greater pressure on a system that is already vulnerable.
Water is one of our island’s most precious and limited resources.
Hawaiʻi Island has a closed water system, and the water available
to us must sustain our residents, agriculture, local businesses,
ecosystems, and future generations. Large data centers can
require substantial amounts of both electricity and water for
cooling and operation. Once these facilities are built, their
resource demands become embedded in our island’s
infrastructure. We should not wait until our water supplies and
electrical grid are further strained before establishing clear
protections.
Bill 170 is an opportunity to act responsibly before these
developments arrive—not after permits have been issued,
infrastructure has been committed, and our communities are left
to absorb the consequences.
I respectfully urge the Windward Planning Commission to
support Bill 170, recommend the objective 20-megawatt
definition above, and send the strongest possible version of the
bill back to the County Council. Our island’s water, electrical
grid, and essential infrastructure must be protected for the people
who live here now and for generations to come.
Mahalo for your consideration.
Mark Prescott
Hawaiian Beaches Water Company
Pāhoa, Hawaiʻi