HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-02 Alexandra Mims Support TestimonyFrom: Ahonui
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Bill 170
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 9:44:42 AM
Aloha,
‘O Alexandra ko‘u inoa a noho au ma Kea‘au. I am writing in 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 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."
Let us keep our ‘āina for the people. We are to mālama ‘āina by caring and stwerading the resources we currently have. Allowing for these types of data centers will have a negative
impact on our ‘āina which will in turn have a negative impact on the people. At what cost are we as Hawai‘i willing to change with the times? Please look at the long-term impact this will
have. The word for wealth in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i is WAIWAI. That is the doubling up of the word WAI which means water. WAI will sustain us and is important to our well-being. You can
make changes and you can say no to what will not keep Hawai‘i Hawai‘i. Please stand up for mālama ‘āina so that we can continue to call Hawai‘i our home for generations to come.
Mahalo.
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, Alexandra Mims
Kea‘au, Moku o Keawe