St. Louis has moved closer to adopting its first comprehensive regulations for data centers, with a plan that would restrict where the facilities can operate while setting standards for electricity and water use, noise and effects on surrounding neighborhoods.
The Board of Aldermen on Friday advanced Board Bill 49 on a 13-0 vote, with one abstention, after months of debate over how the city should regulate an industry that can bring major investment but also place enormous demands on electricity and other infrastructure.
The bill is not yet final. It returns to the city Planning Commission on Sept. 9 for review of changes made by aldermen before an anticipated final vote Sept. 11.
The regulations would replace a system that has treated data centers as offices or warehouses because the city’s zoning code has no separate classification for them. The bill says the facilities can affect surrounding areas through noise, heat and air pollution and strain infrastructure because of their large power demands.
“This bill is the result of a year-long intensive effort to tackle this complex and contentious topic head-on,” Mayor Cara Spencer said.
The St. Louis NAACP has pushed for stronger safeguards, raising concerns about the effect of large data centers on utility costs, the environment and Black communities while also calling for residents to share in the economic opportunities created by artificial intelligence and other technology.
“AI is inevitable. Equity in AI is not,” St. Louis NAACP President Adolphus M. Pruitt II told aldermen in July.
Much of the debate has unfolded as developers pursue the $3 billion Armory Innovation District in Midtown, which includes a large data center planned for the former Famous-Barr warehouse near the Armory. The project has drawn opposition over its potential electricity and water use, environmental effects and community benefits.
At one point, Alderwomen Alisha Sonnier and Anne Schweitzer sought to ban mega-scale data centers in the city. The Planning Commission rejected that approach and instead moved forward with tighter regulations.
The bill divides data centers into three categories — micro, standard and major — based on size and electricity use.
Major data centers would be allowed only in the city’s unrestricted zoning district and would need special city approval. They also would have to be at least 600 feet from residential and other protected properties, including schools, public parks and major transit facilities. The distance would be 300 feet for standard facilities and 150 feet for micro data centers.
Standard and major data centers would have to show that at least 25% of their electricity would come from renewable sources when they begin operating, increasing to 50% by the end of their fifth year and 100% by the end of their 10th year. The bill provides some flexibility if enough renewable energy is not available.
For the largest projects, the electric company also would have to tell the city whether serving a data center could affect other customers’ rates or power-grid reliability.
Data centers could not use cooling systems that rely solely on water-intensive evaporative cooling. Standard and major facilities also would have to reach agreements with the St. Louis Water Division and pay applicable costs resulting from their demands on the system.
The largest projects would face additional requirements, including a community meeting before developers apply and notification of nearby neighborhood organizations, residents and property owners.
Developers also would have to provide independent reports detailing expected environmental effects, tax revenue and construction and permanent jobs.
Major data centers would have to sign a binding agreement with the city addressing their effects on the surrounding community, including noise, air quality, electricity and water use, wastewater and public infrastructure. The city could revoke approval if a data center violated the agreement.
Some of those requirements address concerns raised by the NAACP, which has called for greater disclosure of data centers’ environmental and economic effects and stronger community protections.
Supporters of data-center development have warned that overly restrictive regulations could cost St. Louis investment and jobs.
“Keeping St. Louis nationally competitive through updating our tech-based economy allows the city to attract development and jobs to strengthen the tax base,” Stephen Westbrooks, president and CEO of the St. Louis Development Corp., said in the mayor’s news release.
The rules also address the growing use of artificial intelligence. The bill includes data centers used for AI training and processing, and larger facilities would have to disclose whether they would be used for artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency mining, surveillance, large-language-model training or other purposes.