Kyle McGuffey is four years away from being able to vote, but he’s become deeply involved in the debate over a proposed data center in Colorado Springs.

The 14-year-old heard about the Project Taurus data center from a TikTok video he saw in the spring. The data center, which California-based company Raeden plans to build in a former computer chip manufacturing plant off Garden of the Gods Road, spurred concerns from neighbors about its utility demands and potential noise.

Kyle said the video raised questions about the environmental impacts of adding such a large business to the city. He started Googling around and searching websites to figure out how to request records from the city and Colorado Springs Utilities. He sent both entities requests for planning documents, environmental impact studies and email communications about the data center.

What he found in the last two months has been cited by the opposition groups organizing two of the appeals filed against the proposed project.

“I didn’t realize what I was able to do and what I was able to advocate for until I looked a little bit more into that,” Kyle said.

As the city filled his record requests and he asked Raeden co-founder Jason Green questions by email, Kyle said he found more rabbit holes to go down. He had questions about why things were redacted in some documents and why others couldn’t be provided yet.

One record he received and that set off alarm bells among the opposition groups was a “power overview” proposal Raeden sent to Colorado Springs Utilities in October. The seven-page report provided an overview of the potential power demands of the data center. The proposal said the center could build out to a maximum of 300 megawatts of power to “fully utilize” the site — several times more power than Raeden’s most recent proposals mentioned.

Green told The Gazette that the report was issued when Raeden was looking at the building for a data center in Colorado Springs but before it had a detailed proposal. Later conversations with Utilities and site visits showed that maximum power available for that building was around 50 megawatts.

“All it was meant for was a guided conversation,” Green said.

Two of the groups involved in the appeals challenging the development plan for Project Taurus have used the records that Kyle obtained from the city. Integrity Matters cited him by name in emails it sent supporters and media about the project. Kyle joined the No Data Center COS Facebook group and attended an event it held on the steps of City Hall last month.

“I don’t know him very well at all, but he seems like somebody that’s very interested in getting into the weeds. It’s good to have this kind of outlet and contribute to it. It also speaks to how many people this is reaching,” No Data Center organizer Zuri Horowitz said.

Kyle said he plans to continue digging into public records. With help from his mom, he has already spoken about the issue during a Colorado Springs City Council meeting and plans to keep speaking at any events he can attend about the data center.

This fall, Kyle will attend the Achieve Online School in District 11. He said very few friends his age seemed to know or care much about the data center. While Kyle doesn’t think they have to care about the same issues, he said schools should teach students about the Colorado Open Records Act and civic engagement.

“It would be beneficial for kids to be learning stuff like this, especially things localized to their city and how and what they can do to support it or go against it or fight for it,” Kyle said.