Data Center Regulations
Data Center Regulations
Please read through this webpage to learn more details about this initiative and how you can provide feedback.
Haga clic aquí para realizar la encuesta.
*Privacy Note: To participate in this portal, your name and email are required.
About the draft regulations
To prepare regulations for future data center development applications, Larimer County began a Land Use Code amendment process in January 2026.
- Data Center Moratorium
A moratorium on any data center application or development is currently in place until February, 2027. - Draft regulations were shaped by:
- Public feedback
- Deep research and industry analysis
- Business owner feedback
- Guidance from the Board of County Commissioners and Planning Commission
- Community Focus
The draft regulations aim to uphold and advance the community’s safety, health, and quality of life as related to any data center development.
What the draft regulations do
The proposed regulations set clear, enforceable boundaries on data centers.
- Prohibit hyperscale data centers
Large-scale, high-impact facilities will not be allowed in unincorporated Larimer County to prevent negative and cumulative impacts on existing communities, water supply, and power demand. - Strictly regulate small-scale data centers
Any smaller-scale data centers would need to comply with stringent requirements and regulations outlined in the Land Use Code. - Centers community priorities including:
- Power demand
- Water use
- Air quality
- Noise
- Environmental impact
Why allow small-scale data centers?
Developing data center regulations instead of outright prohibiting them allows Larimer County to prohibit hyperscale data centers and still allow for, but strictly regulate, smaller-scale data centers that may provide critical services including:
- Supporting emergency dispatch services
- Operating electrical grids
- Hosting cellular networks
- Providing internet infrastructure
- Housing law enforcement networks
- Powering telehealth platforms
What community concerns exist & what the draft regulations address
- Power demand
- Water use
- Data center locations
- Air quality
- Noise
- Environmental impact
- Thermal/Heat Impacts
What you need to know
- Where the regulations will be enforced
The proposed land use code only applies to areas in unincorporated Larimer County. - No active applications
Larimer County has not received any data center development applications at this time. - County Land Use Code vs municipal Land Use Code
Municipalities and other jurisdictions within Larimer County (like the City of Fort Collins, the City of Loveland, the Town of Wellington, the Town of Estes Park, and more) develop and enforce their own Land Use Code. - County Authority
Larimer County does not own any power or water utilities and does not set utility rates. The proposed Land Use Code amendments have creative requirements to regulate power and water use by a potential data center. - Public feedback period (October 26 - November 24)
Larimer County is asking for specific and constructive feedback on key issues and definitions in the draft regulations to further refine the Land Use Code amendments. Give feedback via the comments section at the bottom of this page. - Future opportunities to engage
December 16, 2026: Planning Commission Hearing, Public Comment
January 11, 2027: Board of County Commissioners Land Use Hearing, Public Comment
Future dates are subject to change
Draft Land Use Code Feedback
Giving constructive feedback on key issues allows Larimer County staff to further reflect the community’s vision and potentially incorporate public input into the draft.
Explore summaries of the Land Use Code draft amendments in plain language below. You can also read the Draft Land Use Code Data Center Amendment.
Overview
The draft data center regulations aim to mitigate and address any negative impacts to public health, safety, welfare, and the environment.
Draft Highlights
- The regulations cap power use at 30 megawatts (MW), prohibiting hyperscale data centers in unincorporated Larimer County to prevent negative impacts on water supply, power demand, and surrounding communities.
- Any future facilities must be powered by a minimum of 80% renewable energy.
- Locations where smaller data centers that meet the regulations' requirements could be developed are limited.
- Evaporative cooling is prohibited.
- Larimer County has the authority to review and amend the regulations if there is evidence that any future operations cause impacts that the code does not adequately address.
- Any impacts from data center development include those defined in the code but are not limited to them.
Power
Larimer County does not own any power utilities. The County has, however, applied creative requirements to minimize potential impacts.
- Prohibiting Hyperscale Data Centers & Establishing a Power Use Cap
- The proposed regulations avoid the largest negative impacts to surrounding communities, waters, and the environment by capping power use at a maximum of 30 megawatts (MW).
- The County identified 30 MW as the power cap to align with the previously proposed Senate Bill SB26-102 in the Colorado State Legislature.
- This power cap is below the hyperscale threshold as generally defined by industry research and well below the 100 MW threshold cited by the International Energy Agency.
- 1 MW is equal to: 100,000 10-watt LED light bulbs or 1 grocery store
- 10 MW is equal to: 1,000,000 10-watt LED light bulbs, or 1 Hospital, or 50 retail supercenters
- 30 MW is equal to: 3,000,000 10-watt LED light bulbs, or 3 Hospitals, or 150 retail supercenters (Source: City of Loveland)
- Why hyperscale data centers are prohibited
- Community concern: Hyperscale data centers were a strong concern in the community feedback we received.
- High impact: Hyperscale data centers may have negative impacts on water quality, water supply, power demand, and surrounding communities that may be difficult to mitigate.
- Proposed data centers must be powered by a minimum of 80% renewable energy
- Renewable sources include wind, solar, geothermal, and more
- Powering facilities with renewable energy reduces water use
- Requiring this level of renewable energy aligns with broader community and County priorities including:
- Avoiding carbon emissions
- Maintaining air quality
- Reducing noise pollution
Location
The areas where any future data center can be located are limited.
- Smaller-scale data centers may only be built in Industrial Light (IL) or Industrial Heavy (IH) zones.
- Any potential development applications in areas not zoned IL or IH would first require a rezoning process.
- Brief Overview of a Rezoning Process
- Takes anywhere from one year to multiple years to complete,
- Must be reviewed by the Planning Commission,
- Requires approval from the Board of County Commissioners,
- Needs to align with Larimer County’s Comprehensive Plan, which provides a guiding framework for development.
- Brief Overview of a Rezoning Process
Water and Wastewater
Larimer County does not own or have authority over any public, municipal, or private water utilities.
The proposed regulations:
- Prohibit evaporative cooling
This method turns water into vapor to cool server rooms and consumes large amounts of water. - Allow only closed-loop systems or equally efficient systems
Closed-loop systems continually recycle cooling agents. - Require a strict Water Use Efficiency metric of 0.8 to minimize consumption
Water Use Efficiency is the ratio of the total volume of water used to the total power consumed. The higher the ratio, the more water-efficient a data center facility is overall. - Requires extensive application submittal materials, including wastewater management plans related to cooling systems and overall use
Wastewater management plans and regular monitoring to ensure compliance over the lifetime of a facility may be required as determined by the Community Development Director.
Environment & Wildlife
To protect our lands and environment, the proposed regulations:
- Limit data center development to strictly regulated industrial zones.
- Implement standards and regulations related to air quality, power use, water use, and other key areas of impact to mitigate any potential impact to fragile ecosystems, watersheds, and open spaces.
Air Quality
Developers are required to submit an air quality mitigation plan. The plan is reviewed by Larimer County’s Community Development Department and Public Health Department. They then recommend the application for approval or rejection to elected leaders.
The mitigation plan must include how the data center will address any negative impacts to air quality, including:
- Odors and visibility
- Compliance with federal and state requirements
- Implementation of federal and state requirements
- Cumulative impacts to existing air quality standards for ground-level ozone
Noise and Vibration
The Land Use Code establishes limits to prevent data center facilities from impacting surrounding areas with excessive noise and vibration throughout their lifespans and requires that developers:
- Conduct pre-construction and post-construction noise studies led by a professional engineer.
- Prove compliance with the set decibel noise limits throughout active operation.
Additionally, noise requirements in the proposed regulations cover both high- and low-frequency noise and vibration to address and mitigate impacts on the environment and public health and safety.
Submittal Requirements
The Land Use Code also allows the Community Development Director to create submittal requirements for applications. A data center developer will need to submit technical documents that may include but are not limited to:
- Information on power availability
- Information on water supply
- Plans for wastewater management
- Plans to mitigate thermal impacts
- Feasibility studies to provide further information about the capacity and capabilities of the land.
Submittal requirements that are separate from the Land Use Code allow the County to adapt more easily to new state and federal regulations as well as new technologies.
Other Regulations
- Facilities must comply with safe recycling standards for any electronic waste.
- No data centers will be developed on land with conservation easements.
- Developers will align with strict decommissioning requirements outlined in the regulations.
- Electronic interference from any data center technologies must not interfere with any broadcast transmissions like radio and television.
- Thermal and heat impacts must be avoided, minimized, and effectively mitigated, as detailed in a mitigation plan submitted by a developer.
- A data center developer may need to pay for the cost of an independent consultant if the County does not have staff with the appropriate expertise to review studies and plans. (Land Use Code, Article 4.2.3, page 137)
Definition of a Data Center
In the draft land use code, Larimer County is defining a data center as a facility that:
- Consists of one or more buildings.
- Is designed or primarily used for the storage, management, processing, and/or transmission of digital data.
- Houses computer or network equipment, systems, servers, appliances, and other components related to data storage and operations.
Defining Types of Data Centers
- Micro/Edge: A facility that uses less than 1 megawatt (MW) of power at peak demand
- Data Center, Small: A facility that uses between 1 MW of power and 10 MW of power at peak demand.
- Data Center, Large: A facility that uses between 10+ MW of power and 30 MW of power at peak demand.
- Data Center, Hyperscale: A facility that uses more than 30+ MW of power at peak demand. Not permitted under proposed regulations.
Additional Information
Government Transparency
Although this is not directly addressed in the proposed data-center regulations, application information a data center submits to the County is considered public information.
Under Colorado State Law, all records, development proposals, and communications are open to the public under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). Any person can request records through CORA.
How can you provide feedback?
Public feedback period (October 26 - November 24)
Larimer County is asking for specific and constructive feedback on key issues and definitions in the draft regulations to further refine the Land Use Code amendments. Give feedback on this page in the comment box below.
Additional opportunities to participate include:
Planning Commission Hearing, Public Comment: December 16, 2026
Board of County Commissioners Land Use Hearing, Public Comment: January 11, 2027
(Future dates are subject to change)
Please share specific feedback related to key issues, as it is critical to helping staff address and reflect additional concerns in the Land Use Code amendments.
Privacy Note: To participate, your name and email are required
Frequently Asked Questions
Developing data center regulations instead of outright prohibiting them allows Larimer County to address community concerns, prohibit hyperscale data centers, and still allow for, but strictly regulate, smaller-scale data centers that may provide critical services, including:
- Supporting emergency dispatch services
- Operating electrical grids
- Hosting cellular networks
- Providing internet infrastructure
- Housing law enforcement networks
- Powering telehealth platforms
To prepare regulations for future data center development applications, Larimer County began a Land Use Code amendment process in January 2026.
- Data Center Moratorium
A moratorium on any data center application or development is currently in place until February, 2027. - Draft regulations were shaped by:
- Public feedback
- Deep research and industry analysis
- Business owner feedback
- Guidance from the Board of County Commissioners and Planning Commission
The proposed regulations:
- Prohibit evaporative cooling.
This method turns water into vapor to cool server rooms and consumes large amounts of water. - Allow only closed-loop systems or equally efficient systems.
Closed-loop systems continually recycle cooling agents. - Require a strict Water Use Efficiency metric of 0.8 to minimize consumption.
Water Use Efficiency is the ratio of the total volume of water used to the total power consumed. The higher the ratio, the more water-efficient a data center facility is overall. - Requires extensive application submittal materials, including wastewater management plans related to cooling systems and overall use.
Wastewater management plans and regular monitoring to ensure compliance over the lifetime of a facility may be required as determined by the Community Development Director.
Larimer County does not directly own or operate any water, water refinement, or wastewater facilities. Any water use by a data center is also subject to the rules and regulations of public/private water suppliers.
This question isn’t one that County regulations can address. Larimer County does not own or operate any utilities. Utility rates are entirely dependent on the rates set by the municipal or private provider.
Power providers like the City of Fort Collins, Platte River Power Authority, and Poudre Valley REA generally implement large load tariffs on customers who consume high amounts of power to prevent customer rate hikes.
The proposed regulations require:
- Facilities to be powered by a minimum of 80% renewable energy. This requirement preserves air quality by preventing emissions and pollution.
- Developers to submit an air quality mitigation plan to Larimer County Planning and Public Health Departments that includes how the developer will:
- Mitigate negative impacts to air quality,
- Comply with existing state and federal requirements,
- Adhere to standards from the Air Pollution and Control Division of the State of Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment,
- Get the required federal, state, and local permits,
- Address cumulative impacts on air quality and ozone levels.
Facilities cannot use diesel and/or natural gas turbines as a primary power source. They can be used as a backup power source; backup generators must be the lowest-emitting generators available, as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency.
All developments must align with Article 4.10 of Larimer County’s Land Use Code (page 197).
This section of the Land Use Code does not allow outdoor lighting so bright that it harms wildlife and public health, glows in the night sky, wastes energy, spills onto neighbors, and causes glare. Lighting can still be bright enough to provide safety, security, and functionality.
Data centers can produce significant noise levels 24 hours a day. The proposed code addresses these concerns by establishing limits on both low- and high-frequency noise. These limits become stricter when a potential data center is located next to sensitive areas, including residential areas and ecologically sensitive habitats.
The proposed regulations also require that developers:
- Conduct pre-construction and post-construction noise studies led by a professional engineer.
- Prove compliance with the noise limits throughout the data center’s active operation.
If a data center developer were able to meet the code’s strict requirements, they would:
- Pay property taxes that may help fund critical public and county services, including infrastructure, mental health support, and environmental conservation.
- Provide jobs during and after construction.
- Some smaller data centers may also provide critical services like electrical grid operation, cellular network hosting, supporting research facilities, and more.
While this topic is generally outside the scope of Land Use Regulations, Larimer County is not proposing financial incentives or tax exemptions for data centers.
A developer would need to request a pre-application meeting with Planning staff to determine the size and scope of the proposed data center facility. Below are some of the steps a data center developer may need to take.
Staff would outline the required materials a developer needs to submit for development to be considered. A list of submittal materials will become available once the Land Use Code regulations are finalized and may include:
water feasibility studies,
power feasibility studies,
wastewater management plans,
monitoring and compliance requirements,
documentation from utility providers
If the proposed development is not within an existing Industrial Light or Industrial Heavy zoned area, Larimer County would also require a rezoning process, which can take between one year and multiple years depending on the complexity of the request.
Depending on the scope of the project, it may also require Special Review or Administrative Special Review through the approval process. These kinds of review both include public notification related to the application.
Under Colorado State Law, all records, development proposals, and communications are open to the public under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). Any person can request records through CORA.
The draft code does not require a specific method for backup power generation in the case that a data center goes offline.
It does propose regulations that diesel- and natural gas-fueled backup generators are of the lowest-emitting kinds, and sets strict regulations on when these generators can be run. Backup power sources will be prohibited from running for anything other than emergency use and maintenance.
Data centers are developing and changing very quickly. The proposed Land Use Code amendments are a best effort to capture current concerns and technologies. However, advances in technology or a better understanding of impacts might occur in the near future.
Another Land Use Code amendment might happen in the future to address the development of technology, especially in the following scenarios:
A new Federal, State, International, or peer-reviewed scientific research study demonstrates health, safety, sleep disturbance, nuisance, property use, or quality-of-life impacts associated with noise and vibration.
A revision or introduction of standards, guidance documents, recommendations, or best practices by recognized authorities, including but not limited to the Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or comparable professional organizations.
Verified evidence that operations are causing impacts not adequately addressed by these standards.
Repeated verified complaints indicating impacts despite compliance with existing standards.
Specific development applications might also have to go through additional review if the following are proposed: expansion of the project or substantial changes in operational equipment, cooling systems, power systems, generator systems, or configuration.
Public feedback period (October 26 - November 24)
Larimer County is asking for specific and constructive feedback on key issues and definitions in the draft regulations to further refine the Land Use Code amendments. Give feedback on this page by leaving comments in the box at the bottom of the page.
Additional opportunities to participate include:
Planning Commission Hearing, Public Comment: December 16, 2026:
Board of County Commissioners Land Use Hearing, Public Comment: January 11, 2027
(Future dates are subject to change)
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