Authored by: Representative Kendell Culp Referred to: House Committee on Utilities, Energy, and Telecommunications
The gist: HB 1333 is intended to drive the development of data centers away from prime farmland and toward less desirable land. As written, the bill would limit local oversight of these developments and limit public input.
HEC’s analysis: The current bill as drafted gives the state broad authority to override the local zoning process. It would allow a data center or other development to be built on agricultural land with classification IV-VIII (less prime land) without local approval. The committee recommended to revisit provisions related to local approvals, which will be addressed through future amendments.
There were some components of the original version of the bill that HEC supported, including the repeal of the sales tax exemption for data centers. However, this provision was eliminated by an amendment in committee. The bill, as passed out of committee, would instead require the data center user to commit in writing to contribute 1% of avoided sales taxes to the local authority before purchasing exempt equipment.
We also support the inclusion of utility scale battery storage, which remains in the bill after passing out of committee.
To access the full text of this bill, click here. To see the latest actions on this bill, click here.
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