If you care about Colorado's energy grid, water supply, or air quality, please take 5 minutes to read this and sign up to testify (or submit a written comment) on HB26-1030.
What's going on?
HB26-1030 is a bill that would give massive tax incentives to data centers operating in Colorado with virtually no meaningful protections for our communities, our grid, or our environment.
The committee hearing was supposed to happen last week. It got pushed. Make of that what you will, but given the amount of pushback this bill has been receiving, I don't think that's a coincidence.
Here's the catch: it hasn't been formally rescheduled yet but it has to clear the House Energy & Environment (E&E) Committee to make it to the floor before sine die. And I have reason to believe they're going to try to slip it onto the schedule at the last minute, possibly this Thursday. One of the bill's sponsors happens to be the chair of the E&E Committee, which means they have the power to schedule it on short notice. Keep your eyes open.
Why should you care?
⚡ Energy grid & utility bills Data centers are among the most energy-intensive facilities on the planet. This bill would subsidize their expansion in Colorado without adequate requirements to ensure the grid can handle the load (meaning higher utility bills and reliability risks for the rest of us).
💧 Water use & contamination Many data centers rely on massive amounts of water for cooling. This bill lacks strong protections against water use and contamination in a state that is already facing serious water scarcity concerns.
🌫️ No clean energy requirements / air pollution / carbon emissions There are no meaningful provisions requiring data centers receiving these tax breaks to use clean energy. That means we could be subsidizing carbon-intensive operations and contributing to worsened air quality along the Front Range.
🏛️ Lack of oversight The bill creates a 13-member authority board to oversee the incentive program with a structure where those that have a seat at the table when decisions get made stand to financially benefit from data centers (aka their interests are in making money, not protecting Coloradans).
🌎 Other states are already regretting this Virginia, Texas, and other states that rushed to pass data center tax incentives are now facing real consequences (grid strain, skyrocketing electricity costs, water conflicts) and are actively trying to roll back or reform those same incentives. Colorado shouldn't repeat their mistakes.
HOW TO ACT (takes 5 minutes!!)
1. Sign up to testify or submit a written comment
Keep checking whether the hearing has been scheduled:
- Go to testify.colorado.gov and search for HB26-1030
- You can sign up to testify in person, via Zoom, or submit a written statement
2. Email your House rep and the members of the E&E Committee
Tell them you oppose HB26-1030 without strong clean energy, water protection, grid reliability, and oversight provisions. Here are the committee members:
- Rep. Alex Valdez (Chair)
- Rep. Elizabeth Velasco (Vice Chair)
- Rep. Carlos Barron
- Rep. Ken DeGraaf
- Rep. Lori Goldstein
- Rep. Jamie Jackson
- Rep. Junie Joseph
- Rep. Amy Paschal
- Rep. Manny Rutinel
- Rep. Scott Slaugh
- Rep. Lesley Smith
- Rep. Jenny Willford
- Rep. Dan Woog
You can find their contact info at leg.colorado.gov.
This isn't about being anti-technology or anti-AI. It's about making sure that if Colorado hands out hundreds of millions in tax breaks, we get real protections in return. With Colorado as one of the last states to hold off on a tax incentive bill like this, it's important that if/when we do it, we do it right.
The session ends soon. This is the window.
(If you made it this far in this post, thank you for taking the time.)