Five Project Taurus data center appeals meet requirements, city says
Five appeals filed against the proposed Project Taurus AI data center have met the minimum requirements to move through the process, Colorado Springs officials announced Tuesday.
The appeals are challenges to the city planning staff’s June 11 approval of the development plan for a data center from the California-based technology company Raeden. The data center is proposed to be built in a commercial corridor along Garden of the Gods Road.
Two of the appeals were filed by residents on behalf of large groups. One comes from a group of residents in the Chelsea Glen neighborhood and the nonprofit government transparency group Integrity Matters. A second appeal comes from a representative of No Data Center in COS, a group formed earlier this year in response to the news about Project Taurus being planned for Colorado Springs.
The larger appeals argue that the city review of the project did not provide enough analysis of the project’s potential impact on electricity, water use and environmental impacts, as well as whether the size of the project was appropriate for the site.
The other three appeals were filed by individual city residents. Two of those appeals focus their objections on the impacts of noise and low-frequency vibrations created by the data center. The final appeal questions if the data center can be approved while Colorado has drought restrictions in place.
A sixth appeal application was submitted to the city but was ruled incomplete by staff Tuesday.
All of the appeals will move forward to the city’s Planning Commission. A date and time have not been announced for the hearing, though city staff have previously said they probably would hold a stand-alone meeting in July separate from the monthly Planning Commission meeting.
City spokesperson Max D’Onofrio said each of the appeals would be considered separately unless the appellants choose to combine them.
Whether the Planning Commission approves or denies the data center during that appeal, the decision probably will be appealed again to the City Council for a final ruling.
At a protest Tuesday afternoon, motorists driving past Colorado Springs City Hall revved their engines, drowning out speakers against the data center. Others honked in support, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Attendees cited what said were contradictory power-use figures, lack of environmental studies, and an overall lack of transparency from both Raeden and the city.
The crowd included Joe Reagan, a Democratic candidate hoping to represent the 5th Congressional District.
Reagan said he wants to see uniform standards to ensure “we’re developing smartly” with Project Taurus.
“At the end of the day, data centers are a big issue nationwide,” he said. “People feel as if they’re not being heard as part of the process.”
Neighbors have consistently been frustrated by the city and the lack of communication from officials. While they’ve worked with Raeden to adjust some parts of the plan, such as the location of the generators and chillers, the city has been quiet.
Rallygoer Sarah Garlick has lived in Colorado Springs for 21 years and called the proposal “environmentally disastrous.”
“The lack of transparency on (power use) is egregious,” she said. Recent documents shared with The Gazette and obtained by a Chelsea Glen resident appear to show a planned 420-megawatt full load.
Colorado Springs Utilities spokesperson Alex Trefry said the city is not planning for a buildout of that size.
The documents also showed Raeden was investigating the opportunity to have onsite generation. This also is not in Utilities’ plans, Trefry said.
“We have not and are not in the process of a large load study for 420 megawatts at any location in our service territory,” he said. “we currently do not have plans on building natural gas generation at this location.”
Gazette’s Alexander Edwards contributed to this report.