Dover Council’s Committee of the Whole backs a potential 18-month freeze on AI data centers within city limits.
If passed, Dover City Council will not entertain any applications for an AI data center being built in the city, according to Councilman David Anderson.
Kent County already passed regulations on data centers last month in an effort to give the county a legal foothold when making decisions about their use. Anderson says Dover still needs to consider all angles before allowing them.
“We need the freeze because we need to be able to digest all the changes that are occurring with technology and with the state law that passed recently. The regulations haven’t been populated yet.” he told DPM.
Data centers have faced pushback locally and nationwide over their impact on energy bills, noise and light pollution, and the water supply.
Anderson says he’s indeed concerned about their effects on day-to-day costs for Dover residents.
"We have commitments and limited resources, and we need to plan so that our rate payers aren’t stuck with a huge bill for somebody else’s work." he said.
Anderson referenced the rate hike Dover passed earlier this year as one way to cover a $7 million budget deficit. But that faced public opposition.
Some state legislation, like House Bill 445, would require large energy users - such as data centers - to produce their own power in some way. Anderson adds he’d like to see that bill’s impact before considering data centers at the city level.
It’s unclear how much environmental impact data centers would bring to Dover if they materialized, but Anderson confirms at least two entities have contacted city officials to ask about data center construction in Dover.
He says he’s not at liberty to disclose the names of those entities.
The 18-month pause needs to go through planning and zoning before landing before council. Anderson says council would likely not come until October.
