Clark County commissioners unanimously approved Switch’s latest data center expansion in the southwest Las Vegas Valley, backing the project even as residents raised objections over energy use, water demand and broader environmental impacts.
The approval came Wednesday when the Clark County Commission, acting as the Clark County Zoning Commission, signed off on plans for a 56,800-square-foot data center on nine acres near Warm Springs Road, next to Switch’s existing Core Campus. Switch already operates more than 2 million square feet of data center space near Decatur Boulevard and the 215 Beltway, in what the company describes as the largest cluster of data center space in Southern Nevada.
The vote followed public comment from more than a dozen residents and discussion among commissioners about whether Clark County should create specific rules for future data center development.
Opponents said the project reflects a larger statewide surge in data center construction that has triggered concern about pressure on natural resources.
"Data centers are destroying communities, driving climate change, consuming resources and enriching tech billionaires", said Marija Minic, a desert tortoise biologist and member of the Sierra Club's Toiyabe chapter. "Residents have already expressed concerns about the cumulative impacts of continued data center expansion in the southwest valley. Data centers are among the most energy intensive facilities being built in Nevada today. Southern Nevada residents should not bear the consequences of increased utility infrastructure demands without transparency and accountability."
The article says there are more than 60 operational data centers in Nevada, with at least 30 in the Las Vegas Valley, along with dozens more proposed or under construction. It also says a January study from the Desert Research Institute found that the water needed annually to cool 12 data centers under a "medium efficiency scenario" would equal the drinking water of more than 24,117,000 U.S. adults, or more than 27,600 U.S. households.
According to the source article, almost a quarter of Nevada's electricity is already consumed by these facilities, and NV Energy estimates that the energy demand for the 12 data center projects will be 5,900 megawatts - about 2.8 times the capacity of Hoover Dam.
As part of the application, Switch had asked for a waiver from county landscaping rules that would have allowed it to avoid planting trees along the property perimeter and in the building parking lot. The ordinance is intended to combat the urban heat island effect that contributes to extreme heat.
The company also requested a waiver to skip a detached sidewalk because of space limitations caused by an existing county wall. County rules require detached sidewalks along roadways 60 feet or larger, with a landscaped buffer separating pedestrians from the curb.
Switch ultimately withdrew the tree waiver and agreed to pay for a short reinforced concrete barrier along the sidewalk for pedestrians. Landscaping and trees are planned on an elevated platform along the wall.
Steven Roberts, vice president of construction development at Switch, said the facility would operate with limited public water use.
He explained that the new data center would be on a "closed loop" water system - including facility cooling, the most demanding aspect - and use less than 1,000 gallons of public water a day for bathrooms or kitchenette sinks.
Roberts also said the site's power would come from an existing "Audet station" that Switch built with NV Energy two years ago. The article describes the Audet facility as a specialized electrical substation designed to route high-capacity power directly from the regional grid into the data center campus.
Before the vote, Commissioner Michael Naft pointed to efforts by Switch and Clark County to support sustainability measures, including work with the Southern Nevada Water Authority to ban evaporative cooling systems in new commercial and industrial construction around the valley. The source article says evaporative cooling is the second-largest consumptive use of water in Southern Nevada, behind outdoor irrigation, according to the SNWA.
Even with the unanimous approval, commissioners signaled that future projects may face a more defined review process.
Commissioner Tick Segerblom said the county should consider adopting a data center ordinance to consolidate its approach to the resource demands of the facilities. He added that given the valley's size, proactive steps to address the potential impacts of data centers are essential.
The Clark County decision comes as other Nevada communities weigh restrictions or pauses on new data center development.
In Boulder City, residents have organized against a proposed AI data center on city-owned land. Brynn deLorimier, who launched a petition opposing the plan, wrote: "Decisions of this magnitude must not move forward without the clear support and consent of the people who live here. We have done our homework; we have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours doing research, speaking to people in other towns who have already been burdened by similar projects, poring over and poking holes in this company's application packets, attending Town Hall dog & pony shows, and simply put: We do not want this."
State Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro, the Nevada Senate majority leader and Democratic nominee for attorney general, also backed stronger oversight, saying: "Nevada needs stronger protections to make sure the development of data centers does not come at the expense of local families."
Elsewhere, the Reno City Council voted 6-1 earlier this month to extend a 30-day moratorium on new data center approvals through Aug. 31, 2027. The source article says the Henderson City Council is also considering a temporary ban of up to 180 days on conditional use permit applications for data centers so the city can "conduct a thorough review" and update code provisions tied to such projects.
Against that backdrop, Clark County approved Switch’s expansion while leaving open the possibility of broader county regulations as Nevada’s debate over data center growth continues.
