HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-03 Kathy Lomeli Support Testimony
From: Kathy Lomeli
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Bill 170
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026 11:54:19 AM
Aloha, my name is Kathy Lomeli, and I live in Kihei, Maui. I am writing in strong
support of Bill 170 and asking the Windward Planning Commission to recommend
one additional strengthening change before sending it back to the County Council.
The original Bill 170 language uses subjective phrases like "industrial-scale
operation" and "beyond that typically accessory or incidental to office, commercial,
or public institutional uses" that a well-resourced developer's attorney can likely
argue around. The definition below replaces that subjectivity with objective physical criteria and a clear 20 megawatt threshold that cannot be disputed.
The specific language I am asking the commission to recommend:
"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."
150 years, Maui’s freshwater resources were largely diverted by private sugarcane
plantations, disrupting traditional ecological systems and stripping Native Hawaiian kalo (taro) farmers of their ancestral water rights. Following decades of grassroots
legal battles, landmark rulings by the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court have heavily
restricted these corporate diversions by reaffirming that water is a protected public
trust that must legally prioritize native streams and cultural practices. Water is sacred to Hawaiʻi, and we must preserve it.
Our island's closed water system, fossil-fuel dependent grid, and already strained
infrastructure cannot support hyperscale data centers. Please recommend the
strongest possible version of this bill to the County Council.
Mahalo,
Kathy Lomeli
Kihei, Maui