HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-02 Kaleiheana Stormcrow Support Testimony
From: Kaleiheana Stormcrow
To: Planning WPC Testimony
Subject: Bill 170
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 4:34:05 PM
Aloha,
My name is Kaleiheana Stormcrow and I live in Mountain View. I am writing in strong
support of Bill 170 and asking the Windward Planning Commission to recommend one additional strengthening change. Please 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.
Data centers use a disproportionate amount of water, which is a finite resource in an island ecosystem. Data centers also create health risks including noise pollution, light pollution, air
pollution, and more. HECO has aging infrastructure, and many people—rural and urban—who have been affected by power outages recently due to storms. We also already pay an
exorbitant amount of money for electricity here, and data centers would increase those costs exponentially. We do not need data centers on top of everything else our islands already deal
with, all the obstacles to having a good life here as a not rich person. As a Native Hawaiian ecologist, the idea of these monstrosities infiltrating our islands is terrifying for me.
Our island cannot afford to get this wrong. Please recommend the strongest possible version of
this bill.
Mahalo, Kaleiheana Stormcrow
Kapuʻeuhi (Mountain View)