‘We need to embrace it’: Hallam commission hears data center plans

Monolith employees outnumbered board members six to four at the Hallam Planning Commission meeting Wednesday. The Hallam auditorium was empty otherwise, with a handful of residents popping in for the meeting.

And the meeting agenda wasn’t long, with one bullet point sticking out: “Monolith. Discuss future ideas, plans for the company.”

The company, whose main business is producing carbon black, filed a request for a text amendment to the village’s code and a site approval for a data center. It is partnering with Crusoe, an AI factory company headquartered out of Denver.

Monolith is hoping to get approval from village officials on Sept. 7, according to a letter filed to the Hallam Clerk’s Office.

Originally, Monolith wanted to expand the 13 carbon black units with an ammonia facility, said Austin Burk, the vice president of capital projects. But Burk said Monolith will have a lower production of hydrogen as it switches from a natural gas feedstock to a liquid hydrocarbon feedstock.

“We explored different options on the hydrogen use and found that a co-located data center made the most sense. I think we felt like it was the best for the community,” Burk said.

With that new plan, Monolith is hoping to add four more carbon black units along with the data center development to its campus about 25 miles southwest of Lincoln.

There are two proposed data center unit designs. Version one units would be air cooled, or a second version would have a closed loop cooling system, according to Monolith. The units would occupy 10 acres of Monolith’s existing property.

This is only phase one of Monolith’s long-term project. The company is hoping to extend the project to the east of the facility’s campus.

The board members questioned the Monolith team, asking about water usage, noise and worries about what a potential expansion of the facility looked like.

Commissioner Cynthia Heier brought up concerns due the changes Hallam’s seen over the past couple of years, including the 304-megawatt solar farm that's under construction just east of Hallam.

Despite those concerns, though, Heier told Nebraska Public Media that she’s in support of the project.

“This is coming in as creating jobs, which we need here badly,” Heier said. “So there are younger people here who need the work, and we think this is a thing of the future, and it's here to stay. So, we need to embrace it.”

Others aren’t as convinced.

Commissioner Jeanne Egger said the majority of residents who’ve spoken to her don’t like the idea of having a data center in Hallem.

“You know it's the noise, the heat, the light. It's all everybody's mentioned, and then the concern when it jumped 42nd Street over to the next section, where is it going to stop?” Egger said.

Gary Vocasek, the chairman for the Hallam Board of Trustees, also pointed out that residents aren’t eager about a data center. He said, though, he believes that’s partly due to misinformation.

Commissioners and Monolith employees both said they hope for a stronger turnout at a Monolith town hall July 23 at 7 p.m. at the Hallam auditorium.