Arapahoe County Officials Tour Data Centers Amid Community Opposition and Regulatory Discussions in Aurora
Elected officials from Arapahoe County and surrounding municipalities recently toured local data centers in the Aurora region. This initiative comes amidst growing community backlash against proposed data center projects and ongoing discussions about new regulations. Approximately 40 officials and staff, including Arapahoe County Commissioners Leslie Summey, Rhonda Fields, and Carrie Warren-Gully, and Colorado Rep. Jamie Jackson, visited facilities like Comcast in Centennial, H5 in Greenwood Village, Flexential in Parker, and QTS in Aurora. The tour aimed to provide information on data center operations, including their purpose, benefits, energy and water usage, and sustainability efforts. Representatives from Xcel Energy and Core Electric addressed concerns about potential rate increases for ratepayers, stating that data centers are required to build their own infrastructure in Colorado, thus preventing rate hikes seen in other states. The tour was organized as Aurora considers new regulations for data ce...