For towns and cities across the country looking for ways to tell data center developers that their projects aren’t welcome in their communities, the fine folks of Salem, Oregon seem to have found a very efficient way to get their message across: Pull up to public hearings with a guillotine.
Last month, representatives from Verrus, a California-based data center development company, made the trek up to the city of 180,000 to pitch a planned $5.1 billion server farm that would move into 75 acres of state-owned property. According to the Salem Reporter, they were greeted by hundreds of citizens, most of whom showed up to tell Verrus to shove it. One person in particular got attention: a guy who put a guillotine on a trailer and rode it around outside of the Salem Public Library’s Loucks Auditorium where the meeting was taking place.
It seems the message was received. Per the Salem Reporter, Verrus’ representatives left the hearing early because they “did not feel safe.” Some pro-data center voices did stay, including Aaron Stickney, the co-founder of SilverSphere Capital that is financing the project. When he spoke, members of the public reportedly jeered and called him a liar.
When members of the public took the mic and expressed their concerns and vented their frustrations with what seems to be a clandestine and rushed project. In particular, they seemed to take issue with the fact that the city of Salem’s representatives signed a non-disclosure agreeement with Verrus when the project was first brought to them, which, according to the Oregonian, left the citizens in the dark for more than a year before they were informed about the effort—a common tactic that data center developers have taken to railroad communities and keep the public out of the conversation until it’s too late.
Seems like another reason that Verrus used the NDA was to cover its own ass. Reportedly, representatives of the company were unable to answer any questions about water or electricity usage associated with the project, and the company has yet to submit its land use application to the city.
While a lot of ire was directed at the developer, it was not exactly a banner showing for the city council. Per the Salem Reporter, one council member didn’t show up for the event and sent a fill-in to take their spot, and Mayor Julie Hoy made the decision to attend remotely rather than in-person.
By the end of the event, the residents of Salem emerged with a few tentative wins on its ledger. The council vote unanimously to pass a motion to explore banning non-disclosure agreements with developers and another to form a data center task force for the city. According to the Salem Reporter, the council also set up a second hearing that took place earlier this week and led to a temporary moratorium that will prevent any data center projects from moving forward for at least 120 days.
Turns out the public has more power than you’d imagine, especially when they show up with the blade ready to drop.
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