Seward County becomes latest Nebraska county to put moratorium on data centers

Seward County commissioners voted Tuesday morning to approve a moratorium against data center construction.

The moratorium will last for one year, barring a vote to extend it, or until the county can draft and finalize regulations around data centers. Seward County is now one of at least 10 Nebraska counties with a moratorium in place, according to preliminary reporting by Nebraska Public Media News. Five more counties are considering data center moratoriums.

Commission Chair Misty Ahmic said without the moratorium and data center regulations, a developer could muscle its way through the regulatory process to build in Seward County.

“A moratorium is not a decision,” Ahmic said. “It is not saying ‘no.' It is saying we need to make sure that if business comes to Seward County, that it’s right for Seward County. It’s just giving us the fair opportunity to research and do our due diligence.”

The moratorium was unanimously approved, with two members absent.

In the moratorium, the commissioners state that the county recognizes both the increased interest in data centers nationally and the need to encourage business suited to changing customer needs. But commissioners also want to ensure that any data center development is both sustainable and fits in well with the existing communities in Seward County. Ahmic said she's gotten a lot of calls from local residents about the environmental impacts of data centers.

“(There is) concern about water and electrical infrastructure,” Ahmic said. “But beyond that, there’s roadways, there’s noise, there’s decommissioning – what happens when the life of the project is complete?”

Ahmic said county commissioners will research best practices for the zoning regulations around data centers over the next year. She will also ask the Upper Big Blue and Lower Platte South natural resources districts to hold a hydrogeologic study of Seward County’s water supply and the county will solicit advice from planning consultants.

“We don’t have that much water,” Ahmic said. “There are data centers out there that do have a really high usage of water, and I've seen by the minimal research I’ve done that there are some that don’t. I think those are things that we’re going to need to look at.”

The legislature passed LB663 this year, which requires counties to follow a strict timeline for special and conditional use permits typically used by data centers. Whatever decision the boards make under LB663 must be based entirely off of the county’s zoning regulations.

“If we don’t have zoning regulations, how are we going to adequately make that decision?” Ahmic said.