HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-24 Michael Lawrence Testimony
From: Michael Lawrence
To: Planning Internet Mail
Subject: Planning Director Jeffrey Darrow — Bill 170 and how other jurisdictions have drawn the data center line
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2026 6:01:55 AM
Mr. Darrow,
I read the coverage of the Windward Planning Commission's deferral on Bill 170, and
particularly the commissioners' interest in setting any limit by electrical demand rather than floor area. I maintain a public register of adopted and proposed data center provisions, each
linked to its source document: register.calyxos.ai. As of September 24 it covers 241 provisions in 97 jurisdictions.
Three things from that record may be useful as the county works on the definition:
-Power thresholds vary widely. Your state's 2026 House resolution uses 5 MW of
instantaneous demand. Greensboro, NC's moratorium applies to uses exceeding 10 MW of electrical power demand. Spartanburg County, SC defines a data center at 1 MW; amendments
adopted at final reading on September 21 reportedly allow a narrow exception up to 65 MW, measured in IT load rather than total facility demand. What the number measures matters as
much as the number.
-Those Spartanburg amendments also reportedly bar an exempted facility from sharing a parcel or industrial park with another data center, which closes the route of splitting one
campus into several sub-threshold projects.
-Where a code has no definition, data centers default into whatever use fits. In El Mirage, Arizona, a three-building campus was approved under a warehouse entitlement.
I've also published a free framework for jurisdictions setting up this kind of review, with
model language: calyxos.ai/framework. No cost and no obligation; I'm glad to answer questions.
Michael Lawrence
Founder and Systems Architect, Calyx Intelligence (602) 730-5553 · michael@calyxos.ai
Instrument register — Calyx Intelligence
register.calyxos.ai
Best,
Michael Lawrence
Founder & Chief Systems Architect · Calyx Intelligence
Scottsdale, Arizona
Email michael@calyxos.ai
Office: (602) 730-5553
Web: https://calyxos.ai
Data center public record: https://datacenters.calyxos.ai
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/michael-lawrence-23576b36
Verified public record · Siting · Power · Public finance