As neighbors of a proposed data center in northwest Colorado Springs will learn this evening at a community meeting on the project, it poses none of the problems foreseen by some residents and resolves all of their reasonable concerns.

Project Taurus — planned at the decades-old, former Intel chip plant at Garden of the Gods Road and Centennial Boulevard — will go largely unnoticed by surrounding neighborhoods. It also will serve as a myth buster for similar projects around the state, dispelling fears about noise as well as water and power use at data centers in general.

During an in-depth briefing last week with The Gazette’s editorial board, project point man Jason Green cleared up key misunderstandings surrounding data centers. He described in detail how well the facilities, in fact, blend into neighboring land uses without disrupting lives or drawing down resources. Project Taurus, in particular, promises to be exemplary in that regard.

Consider some of the most telling takeaways from our meeting with Green:

• Water wise: The data center will use a leading-edge innovation — a closed-loop water system — to cool its superheated IT infrastructure. It will require a one-time infusion of 200,000 gallons to charge its cooling system — and that will be all. Double-walled pipes and advance leak detection will keep the system sealed. No drawing down water in semiarid Colorado.
• Energy efficient: It won’t be a drain on electricity generation, either. When the facility served Intel as a chip plant, it was rated to draw 100 megawatts of power; Project Taurus is only cleared to use a maximum of 50 megawatts. It assuredly won’t raise local power rates for other Colorado Springs Utilities customers, and developer Raeden will cover costs for upgrades and maintenance of electrical utility upgrades, and it also will pay a large-load tariff to Springs Utilities, a separate assessment ensuring other ratepayers won’t be affected.
• Quiet: The nature of a data center is fundamentally different from that of an unrelated bitcoin mining operation that briefly occupied the facility a half dozen years ago; some neighbors had complained about noise at that time. Taurus will have no external fans or other outdoor noise-making devices. The proposed project’s engineering study estimates a noise level of only 49dBA — which Green likens to a quiet, suburban neighborhood at night.

Among other noteworthy considerations: The project — importantly for Springs taxpayers — is receiving no tax breaks or other publicly funded economic incentives, and it will create 60 to 100 permanent jobs, likely employing the technical expertise of local retired military members.

All of which is over and above the plain reality that data centers are opening nationwide because they are essential to the latest and most dynamic stage yet of the Digital Age — the advent of artificial intelligence. Which means they not only represent economic development for any community — contributing to the tax base, among other benefits — but they also sustain AI development and use, on which we all increasingly depend.

They also are essential to our nation’s defense, including the Pikes Peak region’s extensive military presence. The data center will support critical services required by all five military bases in the area as artificial intelligence plays an ever-larger role in national security. 

And the location of such centers, including Taurus, is pivotal. Proximity to data centers reduces latency, enabling faster, more reliable performance.

It’s worth noting there already are 16 data centers operating in the Colorado Springs area; you might not even have noticed them. This newest data center is at least as likely to blend into its neighborhood — where the building itself long has stood — and to fit into the community.

Let’s move forward with Project Taurus, with a fact-based assessment of its benefits, and let’s set Colorado Springs up for continued, responsible growth.