Data Centers: Daily Notes | April 16, 2026
Kentucky strips data center regulations on session's final day; Virginia governor weakens cost-shift bills; Oakley becomes first Bay Area city to ban data centers.
At A Glance 🔽
- Kentucky lawmakers stripped data center ratepayer protections from a bill on the session's final day, killing the regulatory effort for 2026.
- Virginia Gov. Spanberger amended bills that would shift costs onto data centers, removing the explicit cost-shift mechanism.
- Oakley, CA became the first Bay Area city to temporarily ban data centers in a unanimous vote.
- Sunbury, OH passed a unanimous moratorium until January 2027, pausing a $2 billion Amazon project.
- Danby, NY banned data centers and crypto mines outright through zoning revisions.
- Botkins, OH held a first reading on legislation to ban data centers as part of a zoning overhaul.
- Gaines Township, MI tabled Microsoft's rezoning request for a 104-acre data center campus after hours of public comment.
- Sanford, NC discussed draft data center rules with a 500-foot residential setback and $10,000 noise fines.
- New Buffalo Township, MI approved a one-year moratorium after a land sale tied to a nearby data center project.
Kentucky
Kentucky lawmakers failed to pass data center regulations after provisions were stripped from a bill on the session's final day. House Bill 593 had passed the House and would have required data centers to cover transmission and infrastructure costs, imposed a $75,000 application fee, and tied tax breaks to local compliance.
The bill stalled in the Senate, but its language was briefly revived inside Senate Bill 197. On the final day, SB 197 was sent to the House budget committee, where Bray's provisions were removed before the bill cleared.
Virginia
Gov. Abigail Spanberger amended two bills designed to shift energy costs onto data centers, removing the explicit cost-shift mechanism that both legislators and Dominion Energy supported. SB 253 and HB 1393 would have placed capacity auction and infrastructure costs on high-load users in Dominion's new GS-5 rate class, potentially saving residential customers $5.52 per month.
Spanberger replaced that language with a directive for the State Corporation Commission to be "mindful" of not passing costs onto other customers, and raised the employee opt-out threshold from 200 to 10,000 full-time workers. The legislature returns April 22 to review the changes.
Oakley, California
Oakley became the first Bay Area city to temporarily ban new data centers, with the City Council voting unanimously to impose a 45-day moratorium. Under state law, the ban can be extended in phases to last up to two years. The decision follows public pushback over the Bridgehead Industrial Project, where a developer withdrew data center plans near Highway 160 after community opposition.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has received applications representing 7.2 gigawatts of new data center demand across its service area. City officials plan to hold public workshops this summer and aim to introduce zoning rules before the end of the calendar year.
Sunbury, Ohio
Sunbury City Council voted unanimously to pass a moratorium on data centers effective until January 2027, pausing a $2 billion Amazon data center project.
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Mayor Joe St. John said he wants to take the next eight months to learn more about data center impacts and is waiting for House Bill 646, which passed the Ohio House and would establish a Data Center Study Commission.
Dane Artisola
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Danby, New York
The Town of Danby banned data centers and cryptocurrency mines through zoning revisions approved unanimously at an April 7 meeting. The board defined both uses and prohibited them in all existing zones, effectively creating an outright ban.
The board also added a threshold defining a data center as any facility using half a megawatt-hour or more per day. Danby separately passed a resolution supporting a New York state senate bill that would impose a statewide moratorium on new data center permits.
Botkins, Ohio
The village of Botkins held a first reading on legislation to ban data centers as part of a broader zoning code overhaul. The legislation needs two more readings plus a zoning board review before potential passage. Mayor Lance Symonds said no data center company has contacted the village, calling it a "hot button issue."
Gaines Township, Michigan
The Gaines Township Planning Commission voted to table Microsoft's proposed data center campus after hours of public comment at a hearing that filled a high school auditorium. Microsoft is seeking to rezone five parcels totaling nearly 104 acres along Patterson Avenue SE and 76th Street SE from their current designations to Light Industrial. The company already owns roughly 320 acres zoned for that type of use nearby.
Wednesday, April 15th, 2026 Agenda Packet
Microsoft presented a draft conditional rezoning contract with commitments including a 65-decibel noise cap, 150-foot setbacks, an eight-foot landscaped berm, and no local groundwater use. Residents questioned vague contract language, particularly the term "fair share" for electricity payments.
Sanford, North Carolina
The Sanford Council spent 90 minutes discussing draft data center rules during a work session, reviewing standards modeled after ordinances from Loudoun County, Virginia, and Phoenix and Marana, Arizona. The Joint Planning Commission began researching the issue last October and produced a final draft on March 18.
Key provisions include a 500-foot setback from the nearest home, a 100-foot landscape buffer, a 75-foot height limit, and a 65-decibel noise cap with $10,000 fines per violation. Data centers would be restricted to industrial zones and required to present a "will serve" letter from an electric utility. A public hearing is scheduled for April 21.
Government Websites by CivicPlus®New Buffalo Township, Michigan
New Buffalo Township approved a one-year moratorium on data center development at a special April 8 meeting, temporarily halting all permits and approvals while officials review zoning regulations. The action followed attention on a 114-acre parcel at 19701 Kluver Road near Whittaker Woods, purchased by an entity tied to the "Project Maize" data center under development in Michigan City.
No formal proposal has been submitted for the site, but its industrial zoning means a data center would be a permitted use. Officials cited concerns about water and sewer capacity and the township's tourism-driven identity.
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