Officials in a southern Nevada city say their region has become a national test case for President Donald Trump's push to expand data centers.
City officials in Boulder City, known as the "gateway to Hoover Dam," intend to appeal a decision to approve a data center on Bureau of Land Management land and prevent the project from moving forward.
The bureau released its decision on June 26 to approve construction of the Townsite Data Center on an 81-acre plot of federal land in the Eldorado Valley desert. It's a property adjacent to Boulder City, less than 20 miles south of the city's center, and less than 10 miles south of the original proposed site near U.S. Highway 95 and Interstate 11.
The builder, Houston-based Townsite Solar 2, LLC, originally filed paperwork to build a solar and battery storage facility on the city site and received federal approval in 2023. But in 2025, it amended its application to include a data center.
The company still retains the option to build a solar and battery storage facility until December, but the council voted not to allow the data center to move forward without starting the application process over to include provisions for a different use.
City officials say Bureau of Land Management officials never contacted them or worked with them on the approval, which upset many local leaders who voiced their disdain for the decision at a city council meeting last week.
City Attorney Brittany Walker said the city has many questions about the federal approval. She pointed to Trump's Executive Order 14318, called "Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure," which was meant to streamline data center development.
Walker called the city's opposition a test case against federal overstepping that might impact local or regional communities.
She added that she believed the federal government circumvented typical processes and procedures that require working with local jurisdictions on projects of this magnitude.
"They would have had to work with us and we could have discussed our local land use codes and work with the [Bureau of Land Management] on that, but we were not consulted," Walker said.
City officials said it did not appear the bureau conducted typical environmental studies for the data center — part of what's known as the National Environmental Policy Act review process. Walker said that the bureau simply stated that the use of a solar and battery storage facility, as compared to a data center, was similar.
The Bureau of Land Management did not return requests for an interview by this story's deadline.
Boulder City Councilman Steve Walton told attendees in a packed city council meeting last week that he found the federal approval "absolutely ridiculous" and "out of line."
"I don't know how they could even come to that conclusion," said Walton, who also sits on the Colorado River Commission of Nevada.
Residents expressed concern over the data center's potential impacts on the environment as well as increased water consumption in the drought-stricken area.
The city is planning to submit an appeal and a "stay" to prevent the project from moving forward by July 27.
Others have lingering questions about the president's executive order, which was followed up with a White House comprehensive plan for "AI" expansion in 2025.
"I researched that," said Boulder City Council Member Denise Ashurs. "They've never done a data center on [Bureau of Land Management] land. So, this is new for them too."
City spokesperson Lisa LaPlante said the company behind the data center, Townsite Solar, has historically been a good business partner with its current solar and battery storage facilities within Boulder City's jurisdiction.
Townsite Solar also did not return requests for an interview before publication.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona, and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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