Routine Lincoln County scheduling vote erupts into data center debate
Residents push for one-year moratorium as commission sets February vote
A Lincoln County Commission meeting that was intended to be a narrow procedural step turned into a full public airing of opposition Tuesday night to data centers.
The commission was scheduled to set a hearing date on a data center moratorium, but a number of people from the public attended what would otherwise have been the routine scheduling vote. Commissioner Joel Arends pressed to let the critics speak on the moratorium itself.
The commission unanimously scheduled a public hearing for next month, but not before tensions surfaced over whether the public should have been invited to debate the policy’s merits.
Data center feud reaches South Dakota Capitol
PIERRE — Tax breaks for data centers that power artificial intelligence capabilities are at the center of what could be this year’s most contentious battle among lawmakers at the state Capitol.
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