Colorado communities push moratorium on megacenter project amid water and energy concerns

A coalition of Brighton residents will ask the City Council on Tuesday night to impose a moratorium on a proposed eight-building, 2.5-million-square-foot data center that would sit on former farmland near County Road 40. Community members, ranging from Democratic Socialists of America activists to conservative neighbors, cite concerns about the facility's water consumption, energy needs and potential noise for nearby subdivisions.

In neighboring Weld County, organizers are launching two separate petitions, each demanding 10,000 signatures, to either place the Global AI development on a special election ballot or to create a standing referendum requirement for any new data-center projects. Advocates such as Patricia Garcia-Nelson argue the measures would return decision-making power to local voters. The controversy mirrors actions in Colorado Springs, where a data-center proposal near Garden of the Gods was delayed after protests, and Aurora, where the council rejected a moratorium but added water-use safeguards. Developers Dewberry engineers and California-based Raeden have not responded to requests for comment, and United Power declined to discuss individual projects, leaving residents uncertain about the source of the required power and its impact on the state's renewable-energy goals.