Joplin officials explain future data center regulations
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The city of Joplin has strengthened its regulations for large data centers, including a requirement aimed at reducing water use as officials prepare for the possibility of a major data center development.
Troy Bolander, director of Joplin’s Planning, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, told Newstalk KZRG that city staff spent more than two months reviewing regulations after a proposal surfaced for a possible data center near Wildwood Ranch.
Bolander said most of Joplin’s existing regulations already addressed those issues, but some provisions were strengthened specifically for data centers.
One of the most significant changes requires new large data centers to use a closed-loop water system for cooling, or another technology that is at least as efficient.
Closed-loop systems continually reuse the same water to cool servers, reducing the amount of new water required.
Bolander said the systems must occasionally be flushed, but the city determined Joplin’s wastewater treatment system could accommodate that demand.
The regulations are written to allow newer cooling technologies if more efficient systems become available.
Bolander said the requirement would not apply retroactively to a small bitcoin mining operation already operating in Joplin.
He said that facility uses little water compared with the much larger facilities sometimes referred to as hyperscale data centers.
Bolander said one of the findings from the city’s research was that newer large data centers have become increasingly efficient in their use of electricity, water and wastewater systems.
The Joplin City Council also established a $1,000 annual business license fee for data centers.
Bolander said he believes the regulations are strong but acknowledged the city could return to the council with additional amendments if problems or gaps become apparent.
He also said zoning can be used to regulate where and how data centers operate, but said the city cannot simply use zoning to prohibit them entirely.
The new standards come as Joplin continues to consider the potential development of a large data center on the city’s southwest side.
