Congresswoman Dina Titus today released a letter she sent to federal Bureau of Land Management questioning how the BLM is reviewing proposals for data centers on public lands, specifically its unilateral approval of a data center on federal land in Boulder City. 

“Residents of Boulder City and other communities in Southern Nevada have a right to know about any proposal to transfer federal land to data center developers,” she said. “Data centers potentially can affect our scant water resources, energy usage and the overall environment. The BLM allowed a private developer to switch from developing a solar farm on city-owned land in Boulder City to developing a data center on adjacent federal land without any public review. This is unacceptable.” 

Congresswoman Titus sent the letter on July 8 to Steven Pearce, director of the BLM in Washington, D.C., and Justin Abernathy, acting director of the Nevada State Office of the BLM, asking for “robust public consultation and transparency” during the permitting process for data centers. 

Relative to the Boulder City proposal, Congresswoman Titus said “residents are concerned about how the proposed project would impact the electric grid and utility prices, how heat generated from industrial processes would affect the surrounding area, and whether the project would further deplete our precious water resources.” 

Congresswoman Titus asked for answers to the following questions by July 22: 

1. Does BLM agree that robust transparency and public consultation should be conducted in any agency action that would allow data centers to be built on public land?

2. What public consultation did BLM engage in before agreeing to amend Townsite Solar 2,

LLC’s Right-of-Way grant (NVN 099875) to allow Townsite Solar 2, LLC to “construct, operate, and decommission a Data Center Facility” on public land?

3. What public consultation process does BLM plan to engage in as the agency considers whether to issue a Notice-to-Proceed allowing Townsite Solar 2, LLC to proceed with the project?

4. Will BLM hold public hearings as it considers whether to issue a Notice-to-Proceed for the development of Townsite Solar 2, LLC’s proposed data center facility in Boulder City?