Clearfield weighs rules for large power and water users, including data centers

The Clearfield City Council put regulation of large power and water users, a category that can include data centers, on the agenda of its Oct. 13 work meeting. The staff memo from City Manager JJ Allen asked the council to discuss the issue and give staff direction to help narrow the scope of research. ^[1][2]

The memo says the council recently adopted a temporary land use regulation to give the city time to research what rules fit users that already operate in Clearfield and those that may arrive. That regulation expires March 16, 2027. ^[1]

Staff's discussion slides list the questions for the council. They ask which zone suits such uses and whether they should be permitted, conditional or handled through an overlay. They ask which impacts warrant city-level rules, including water use, with options such as requiring closed-loop cooling, even for existing facilities, or setting a daily consumption cap. ^[1]

The slides also ask whether regulating power demand is the city's role or a matter for Rocky Mountain Power, whether the Freeport Center area needs rules beyond Clearfield's noise ordinance, and how streets and public safety services would be affected. They ask whether heat, electronic waste and decommissioning fall more under the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Quality, and they raise community benefit agreements as an increasingly common way to offset impacts. ^[1]

The memo warns that the Utah Legislature is likely to consider and pass state rules that would override whatever Clearfield adopts. It lists two alternatives that staff did not necessarily recommend: wait for a clearer picture of the state's approach before drafting an ordinance, or rescind the temporary regulation and adopt an ordinance after the 2027 session. ^[1]

The memo says the fiscal effect of any ordinance on city revenue cannot be known until rules are in place and private development decisions follow. ^[1]