Downstate Delaware city Harrington has shut down one proposed data center, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility that a much larger project could still emerge somewhere in Kent County.
On Monday, Harrington City Council voted unanimously against a zoning change that would have allowed a proposed 24-megawatt data center at the former Harrington Logistics property.
The decision only applies inside Harrington city limits.
Technical.ly previously reported that Delmarva Power records list an unnamed 100-megawatt data center project somewhere in Kent County. Its developer and exact location are still unknown, so we don’t yet know whether the Harrington vote affects that project.
Kent County has its own separate data center ordinance, which applies only to unincorporated land, not to cities like Harrington. Those rules cover noise, setbacks, cooling, water and other requirements.
Harrington had been considering its ordinance for about 10 months. Residents raised concerns about electricity costs, noise and other impacts.
“We didn’t know enough about it,” Vice Mayor Darrin Simpson told Delaware Public Media. “And, it is water usage and it is high electric usage and it is that type of thing. It’s just not going to be good for the city I don’t believe.”
The Harrington vote marks another setback for data center development in Delaware, following state regulators’ decision to block Project Washington as proposed near Delaware City.
