Who Gets to Call the Shots
Colorado lawmakers are weighing competing proposals over whether to attract or regulate data centers, with the Democratic legislative majority considering a bill that would establish guardrails for new tech centers by requiring them to cover their entire hourly energy demand either by generating or purchasing renewable energy, sign long-term contracts with utilities and comply with new state codes. The whole setup is a familiar little pageant: the state deciding how best to manage corporate expansion while ordinary people are left to absorb the costs, the water use, and the grid strain.
State Sen. Cathy Kipp, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said, “We don’t want to stop data centers, we just want to make sure we’re still able to meet our clean energy and climate goals and that we don’t use up all of our water,” and added, “We’re saying that if you come to the state, you have to follow our rules.” That is the language of managed permission, not community control: the bosses of the apparatus setting terms for other bosses, while everyone else is expected to live with the consequences.
Who Pays for the Expansion
Critics say such punitive measures would drive data centers to nearby states like Wyoming, which does not have green energy requirements and embraces fossil fuels. In other words, the competition between states is still the same race to the bottom, with governments trying to lure capital by adjusting the rules of exploitation rather than challenging the system that makes communities compete for corporate favor in the first place.
State Rep. Alex Valdez, a Democrat, has proposed a competing bill that would create new tax breaks for data centers that comply with certain environmental standards and agree to make $250 million in infrastructure investments over five years. Valdez said data centers can help Colorado by funding new electric infrastructure, bringing new clean generation and adding tax revenue to fill local budgets. He asked, “How do we connect the need of hyperscalers to build and the dollars they have with our own public needs?” and said breaks on sales and use taxes are a worthwhile price to pay if they come with ratepayer protections.
That bargain is spelled out plainly: public needs are to be met by giving powerful firms tax breaks and asking them to invest on terms set from above. The people at the bottom are still the ones expected to live with the infrastructure, the utility contracts, and whatever “protections” survive the deal.
What They Call Development
Valdez also said, “The economy in America is built around states attracting businesses,” and, “Being a Democrat, being pro-worker also means you should be pro-employer. I believe the government’s priority, beyond public safety and protection of rights, is to foster economic development.” That is the old script in fresh packaging: government as broker for employers, workers told their interests are served by being “pro-employer,” and public power reduced to helping business grow.
The incentives bill was pulled from a scheduled hearing last month and may struggle to move in a session where budget troubles have already forced lawmakers to cut public programs. The guardrails bill has also stalled, in part because of opposition from labor and construction groups. Even inside the legislature’s own narrow lanes, the competing plans are running into the limits of a system that can find money for corporate incentives while cutting public programs when budgets tighten.
The Colorado legislative session ends May 13, and Kipp said she is hopeful the bill will gather enough support to move before then. Valdez said he believes the two bills could be merged to create an incentive program that keeps Colorado competitive with neighboring states. That is the real horizon on offer here: not community self-determination, not mutual aid, not democratic control over energy and water, but a managed contest to keep capital satisfied while the public is told to accept the terms.
The State as Referee for Capital
The debate centers on whether Colorado should regulate data centers with renewable energy requirements and utility contracts, or sweeten the deal with tax breaks and infrastructure promises.
The Democratic legislative majority is considering guardrails for new tech centers.
State Rep. Alex Valdez has proposed tax breaks tied to environmental standards and $250 million in infrastructure investments over five years.
The incentives bill was pulled from a scheduled hearing last month, and the guardrails bill has stalled amid opposition from labor and construction groups.