Environmental groups win stay in fight over data center near Boulder City

Environmental groups win stay in fight over data center near Boulder City A national committee has issued an enactment that halts progress on a proposed information center adjacent to Boulder City while it reviews challenges to the project’s federal approval, the city announced in a statement. The order suspends development on an 80‑acre parcel of Bureau of Land Management land where Townsite Solar 2, LLC, had previously received clearance to build near Interstate 11 and U.S. Highway 95. Boulder City, joined by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club, appealed the BLM’s authorization, asserting that the agency failed to consult the municipality or provide adequate public opportunity before signing off on the project. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Board of Land Appeals determined that the challengers are likely to succeed in demonstrating that the project was granted without the project‑specific biological review mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act. The decision represents at least a temporary victory for Boulder City residents who have spent months opposing what would become the first data center approved on federal land in the United States. “This determination is simply a triumph for democracy, public information and the rule that our public lands should serve the public,” said Olivia Tanager, manager of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter. “The people of Boulder City have made clear that they do not want a data center on public lands, and this ruling gives their voices the value they deserve.” The dispute originates from a right‑of‑way grant originally awarded to Skylar Capital Management, the parent company of Townsite Solar 2, for a solar facility on the site. When that permit was later amended to allow data center use, the BLM concluded that the solar project’s 2023 biological assessment could be carried over—a conclusion now under contention. In their appeal, the environmental groups argued that “permanent and irreparable harm is likely to occur to its members’ aesthetic and recreational interests in the project site” if the data center proceeds, and that such harm outweighs the “temporary fiscal harm to Townsite from the delay.” The Board of Land Appeals, in granting the stay, wrote that the “timely improvement of data center infrastructure” does not supersede the benefits of “a thorough and open review of the possible environmental effects of that development,” according to a city press release. The ruling follows months of organized opposition from Boulder City residents, who have staged protests, displayed hand‑painted yard signs throughout the town and filled public comment periods at city meetings. A Change.org petition opposing the project has gathered more than 6,000 signatures. Residents have expressed worries about water depletion in the desert region, alongside concerns over energy consumption, air emissions, noise and whether the project aligns with a community that has long resisted commercial development. Boulder City, a municipality of roughly 15,000 inhabitants, enforces a growth ordinance that limits new residential building permits to 120 units citywide annually and prohibits gambling. Water use has emerged as a flashpoint: the Southern Nevada Water Authority has banned evaporative cooling, meaning new data centers cannot employ that water‑intensive method to chill servers, potentially increasing their electricity demand instead. Boulder City operates its own municipal electric utility, making it one of the few Nevada communities not served by NV Energy for retail power distribution. The city draws an allocation of hydroelectric power from Hoover Dam and delivers electricity to residents through its city‑run power department. City officials warned that the data center could strain the local grid. At 167 megawatts, the project’s demand is approximately three times Boulder City’s total electrical load, a factor they argue could raise peak‑period power costs across distribution networks. Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin manager at the Center for Biological Diversity, described the ruling as a “tremendous victory” that “proves communities have the power to fight back and win.” The Board stated in a release that the decision will help ensure that future data center proposals on public land in Nevada “are subject to rigorous environmental review.” Brynn deLorimier, a Boulder City resident who participated in the appeal, said the ruling reflects backing that extends beyond the city itself. “We’re also grateful to the Interior Board of Land Appeals for recognizing that this lawsuit matters far beyond Boulder City and could set an important precedent for public lands in Nevada and across the country,” she said.