LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — About 20 Boulder City residents opposed to a proposed data center met at the desert site with FOX5 Wednesday to voice their concerns.
A Change.org petition against the project has gathered nearly 1,300 signatures since it was created last week. Opponents say the data center raises major environmental concerns and could increase power and water bills.
“We’re a historic town. That’s what we’re known for,” resident Brynn Delorimier said.
Boulder City was built for workers constructing the Hoover Dam. In a city founded on energy generation, many residents do not want a data center built.
“This is my fifth year here in Boulder City, which is meant to be my forever home, unless this goes up, in which case I’ll be rethinking that,” said Branden Smith, a Boulder City resident.
Residents say the facility would use too much power and generate unbearable heat.
“We’re here in the desert in the second fastest warming region in the United States. And this data center, it’s massive,” said Delorimier.
Delorimier, who is expressing her opposition with a sign at the motel she is renovating and by creating the Change.org petition, said the data center would have a massive heat output equivalent to 200,000 space heaters running 24/7, 365 days a year.
“When our temperatures are already increasing, it’s just not something we need here,” Delorimier said.
“There’s no physical way of getting rid of the heat that this thing is going to generate,” Smith contended.
Boulder City Council Member Denise Ashurst said, “I know we are small town and we have our ordinance of the type of town we want to be but I think there is always room for technology.”
The Boulder City Council first discussed bringing a data center to the area during a city council meeting in January as a way to close a budget gap.
During their city council meeting last week, the city laid out the plan for the Townsite Solar 2 data center in an area of open desert west of the 95 and south of I-11.
The site covers 88 acres next to a multi-species habitat protection area which cannot be commercially developed and is not far from homes.
Residents worry about their water and power bills.
“We don’t know how that’ll impact us. And that’s a major concern, I think, for everybody here,” one Delorimier said.
Timothy Phillips, a Boulder City resident, said the community’s concerns about water and power go beyond Boulder City.
“It actually should be thought of by our politicians who have been telling us for years about the drought situation and how we need to conserve water and electricity,” Phillips said.
“Our City Council didn’t listen to us. They passed this data center through that phase. It’s on to the next phase now, which goes to the Planning Commission and none of us are happy with that,” Delorimier said.
Neighbors plan to protest at City Hall on April 15 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., the day the Planning Commission is set to discuss advancing the data center proposal.
Boulder City voters will also weigh in on data centers. A question about them is on the November ballot, though it will not impact the Townsite Solar 2 project.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
