Nye County totally bans data centers in over-appropriated water basin

“I am not willing to sacrifice your or my welfare in regards to a data center here in Pahrump Basin 162,” said Nye County Commissioner Bruce Jabbour to a room of about 100 residents, who mostly spoke in support of a ban.

The vote comes after county commissioners approved a temporary county-wide moratorium in June on any new data center applications, which will remain in effect until the county adopts local data center regulations. The temporary moratorium followed an emergency order in May from the Nye County Water District Governing Board recommending a pause on data centers in the Pahrump Valley.

The ban is also a blow to Gigawatt Development Partners LLC’s controversial Manse Technology Campus, a proposed 900-acre data center facility in the Pahrump Valley. 

Gigawatt had already secured the water rights needed to operate the data center, according to the company, but the ban would effectively prevent the development of any data centers in and around the town of Pahrump. 

Nevada Hydrographic Basin 162 covers a total area of more than 500,000 acres, covering the vast majority of southern Nye County including Pahrump, and extending east toward the Clark County border. 

Gigawatt Development Partners LLC did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the future of the data center following the data center ban in Pahrump’s Basin 162.

Nye County Commission Chair Ron Boskovich, who proposed the original temporary moratorium, expressed concern about the amount of water data centers required before his vote to ban their development in Nye County. 

“Lake Mead has plunged to a new record low,” Boskovich said, pointing to the growth of data centers in Las Vegas. “I don’t know if they’re correlated. Maybe not, but they’re running out of water out there, so we don’t really know.”

At full buildout, the Manse Technology Campus was expected to use about 300 acre-feet of water annually, according to the developer. 

County commissioners also agreed to hold a special meeting Sept. 14 to establish land use regulations for developers who attempt to build a data center outside of the banned area. 

Nye County Commissioner Debra Strickland said the county should take the tax benefits data centers could provide into consideration as they develop local regulations. 

“I want to remind you that you only have 2% of the taxable land in Nye County, everything else is federally owned,” Strickland said. “Somewhere we got to make money, guys. So let’s put data centers somewhere, come up with a place that’ll work.” 

Boskovich echoed the need for new tax revenue in Nye County and noted that data centers are being pushed statewide and nationally. 

“I know that our president wants more of these, and I know that our governor wants more of these,” Boskovich said. 

Gigawatt officials said they were in the process of applying for the Nevada Data Center Tax Abatements program, which offers a 75% tax break on personal  property — vehicles, equipment, and other property used in conjunction with the business — for 10 years through the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development for capital investment projects that commit at least $25 million in expenditures.

After the tax breaks, the developer estimated the project would generate about $22.4 million in personal property tax revenue. Without the 75% tax break, the personal property tax would equal $90 million.  

Real property tax, which is not available for abatement in Nevada, would bring in about $91.8 million in tax revenue every year once the data center is developed, according to the developer’s estimates.

Before voting for a total ban, some county commissioners hoped to approve a special election that would allow the public to decide on a data center ban themselves. However, they missed the deadline to place the question on the November ballot, and would need to hold a special election in January at the county’s expense. 

“I still feel the people need to make that determination,” Strickland said.