Larimer County is tackling data center rules by listening to the public. Over 7,000 have responded so far.

As yet untroubled by the whirlwind of data center debate, Larimer County leaders are taking advantage of the relative quiet to set strict rules blocking the highest impact “hyperscale” centers that residents vehemently oppose.

While imposing a moratorium on new data centers lasting through February, county commissioners and planners earlier this year also called for draft regulations for data center growth that will be voted on in January. Drafts of the rules now out for public comment block any data centers drawing over 30 megawatts of power, ban evaporative cooling that wastes water, renewable sources for required electricity, and no conversion of agricultural land. 

A huge majority of the 7,000-plus survey responses from Larimer County residents opposed data centers, county community development director Rebecca Everette said. After more consulting with county businesses and researchers, she said, county staff realized there will likely be legitimate demand for modest data centers needed by health complexes, academic centers or telecommunications companies. So an outright ban is not up for debate. 

Instead, the draft rules intend to keep out the worst of the worst in noise, new air pollution and oversize industrial development, while pledging that no incentives or tax breaks will be given to data centers on unincorporated Larimer County land. 

“Ninety-four percent of our survey respondents didn’t want any data centers in Larimer County at all,” Everette said. Further discussions revealed some consensus, she said, that “there is a role for data centers in our local economy, but it’s at a smaller scale.” 

As part of the research into potential draft rules, a University of Colorado Denver graduate student surveyed data center regulations put in place by other communities around the country. 

“We also interviewed a lot of peer communities around the country to understand what they have in place in their codes, and what they would do differently now that they have data centers operational,” Everette said. 

Avoiding development incentives was one national echo the staff heard. Not only are incentives often unnecessary when a developer is intent on launching a project, Everette said, but the scan of other community experiences “found that some of the infrastructure costs and support costs exceeded what they were getting in benefits.” 

“So, one of our takeaways,” Everette said, “was that there’s no need to consider incentives in our community.” 

Technology is changing so quickly in data center operations, power needs and water supply demands, Everette said, that Larimer County’s draft is less specific than others on technical issues. The proposed rules set a high bar for developers, but give them room to change how they get there. 

That plays out in the energy rules. Some hyperscale data centers in other states, including New Mexico, will demand so much energy that new fossil fuel-powered generating stations to serve them will wipe out many of the gains in greenhouse gas emissions of recent decades. 

Larimer County’s draft says that any new data center must be powered by at least 80% clean, renewable energy. That matches the greenhouse gas emissions targets set in Colorado law, which require utilities to reduce carbon emissions from electrical generation by 80% by 2030. 

The county is asking for more public comment on the draft rules, at the community planning page of the Larimer County website. The planning commission will vote on a final draft in December, and then the county commissioners in January. 

The efforts match a flurry of activity elsewhere in Colorado to slow or closely regulate new data centers. On Tuesday, after a raucous public meeting where dozens of public speakers demanded a ban, Aurora’s City Council again rejected a data center moratorium. 

State lawmakers, meanwhile, are circulating potential language on tighter data center regulation for a bill in the 2027 session. Competing data center bills failed in the 2026 session. One would have added lucrative new incentives for data center developers. The other would have added regulations, including a target of 100% renewable energy supply for large data operations.