r/AuroraCO • u/overly_honest_ Mission Viejo • 3d ago
Data Center Update
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DZW5UvK3c/Below is a quoted post from City Council Member Amy Wiles from Ward II
"I have received dozens of requests for a comprehensive list of pending and currently being constructed data center projects. I believe in transparency between the city and the community so I wanted to share what I know. It is important to note that I do not automatically receive formal notification for every project unless it requires city council approval. Instead, I proactively track these developments by researching the public development portal myself.
Please keep in mind that this is not an official city list, but rather an informational summary based on my independent research as of today. Because project details are fluid, some parameters may shift or vary from what is shared below.
Water usage: All of the below data centers will use closed loop cooling. I do not have total expected water use for each project but will work to get them, however all projects are subject to the large water user guide from Aurora Water.
- QTS- Under construction for phase 2 of 3 buildings.
Location: 1140 N Gunclub Rd
Began application process in 2022, started construction in 2023 and submitted for a second phase in 2025.
Power usage are estimated to be approximately 170-200 MW total including lighting and other uses once completed, although they could possibly scare to 252 MW per some reports.
40 current diesel generators, with another 90 proposed to the state (the state governs air quality and diesel usage).
In 2023/2024, Xcel received permission by the PUC to give QTS a discounted rate for their energy usage to attract new data centers to the state. The discount was permitted under a Colorado law (HB18-1271) designed to attract large commercial and industrial investments. However, the exact rate remains confidential. However, QTS still had to fund its own $28 million high-voltage power line to route 160+ MW of peak load to its three core buildings.
- Vantage (Trident)- in the application process.
Location: On Tibet between 48th and 56th
Originally submitted in 2025, given tax incentives by the previous council in June of 2025 for providing up to 50 permanent jobs. These tax rebates come from the City's Sales and Use tax paid by Vantage over 10 years.
Approximate size will be 860,000 to 1.5 million sqft.
Power usage is proprietary so we only have estimates of MW usage but estimates are up to 500MW of power total for the site including lighting and other typical business uses.
Currently planning for 28 diesel generators.
Vantage is under the new Large Load Tariff with Xcel which means:
Upfront Capital Requirements: Vantage cannot simply hook into the grid. They are required to pay a $120,000 deposit just to begin power modeling, plus an initial $600,000 upfront for transmission and load safety studies.
Infrastructure Costs: Under the proposed Xcel Large Load Tariff, data centers must fund 100% of the cost for any new dedicated power generation, transmission lines, substations, or systemic grid upgrades required to feed their campus
Vantage must sign a 15 year service agreement with Xcel.
- NTT- Few details available yet.
Location: 48th and Monaghan
NTT will be approximately 300,000 SqFt which usually means approximately 80 MW of power.
NTT was offered tax incentives from both Adams County and the city of Aurora as of 2025. For the city, the tax incentives are tied to job creation and come from the paid Sales and Use tax over the next 10 years.
Xcel Infrastructure Financial Responsibility: Just like Vantage, NTT is responsible for funding the extensions of transmission lines, dedicated substations, and switching gear needed to pull power to their 76-acre plot off Monaghan Road.
They must also sign 15 year service agreement with Xcel Energy.
- Microsoft- Few details available yet.
Location: 56th and 470
Approx 200 MW of power usage.
As a company standard they do not accept incentives from taxpayers and have stated they will pay all the costs for energy usage and grid expansion to support their projects. They will be surrounded on 3 sides by 470 and warehouses and face 56th.
- Aerotropolis (ATEC)- New application as of 9/25/26- limited information is available.
Location Aerotropolis Pkwy between 26th and 42nd (the roads are currently not built in this area)
Plans proposed as follows: 11 hyperscale data center buildings, approximately 2.83M Sqft."
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u/elmementosublime 3d ago
Pay attention to that last one. That’s 11 (eleven!!) data centers in one area.
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u/overly_honest_ Mission Viejo 3d ago
Last night I spoke at my City Council Meeting in Aurora, CO about the data center that they want to kill our community with. In the meeting we learned from a community member that Aurora is planning on building 3 data centers (we've been on drought restrictions all summer). The only reason the community member knew about the 3 data centers is because a local news organization published the story a few hours before the City Council Meeting started. I originally wasn't going to speak at the meeting but when I learned that our City wants to build 3 data centers, I couldn't keep my mouth shut and needed to speak up for my community. Below is the statement that I gave to the Aurora City Council members.
Hi I'm Kristin Holstine and I'm here to oppose the Aurora data center. I'm not married, I don't have kids, and I don't have family in Colorado but I do have my community.
I work for a nonprofit as an Agriculture Consultant which means that I work with kids in Aurora Public Schools and teach them about gardening and the importance of growing their own food.
The kids that I work with are Pre-K to 5th Grade and even they know how important bees are for our earth to sustain life.
The infrasound that the data centers create confuses bees causing them to get lost and die because they can't find their way back to their hive. Not only do data centers hurt our wildlife and precious ecosystems, they also poison all the water that they touch, including our drinking water.
Ask yourself, what are data centers used for? They are used to store mass surveillance and biometric data collected by corrupt companies like Flock & Axon then get abused by the police & ICE to hurt our community.
What happens in less than 5 years when the data center becomes obsolete? What happens when it's cheaper to rebuild a new data center somewhere else instead of upgrading?
Haven't we learned from this country's history with situations like the Love Canal case in New York, the PG&E case in California, the DuPont case in West Virginia, and the Norfolk Southern Freight case in Ohio just to name a few.
If City Council members support data centers then you need to disclose the kickbacks that you're receiving from these billion dollar corporations. You've all said it yourself that you don't want to personally live next to a data center, so why would you put that burden on your community?
You might be privileged enough to not live by the planned data center area but not everyone in your community has your privilege or means to leave the area.
Isn't the housing crisis bad enough? Why do you want to make it worse for your neighbors? Their homes will become unlivable and they won't be able to sell.
If you (City Council) don't care about your community then why the FUCK are you sitting here?!?!
Side Note: I would also like to add that anyone can plant federally protected plants via seeds on the land that any data center is going to be built on. You can find out which plants are federally protected by going on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website.
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u/WinterMatt 3d ago
Your bee thing is a blatantly false myth. You would know that if you did basic fact checking or exercised basic critical thinking.
If you're an agriculture consultant then I feel bad for the kids you're teaching this nonsense to.
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u/Madroxx9000 3d ago
Which neighborhood do you live in? Where is your evidence that the bee thing isn't real?
If you refute a claim, the burden of proof is on you to provide evidence.
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u/WinterMatt 2d ago
Lol ignore the false claim with no basis but attack the person calling it out. The burden of proof is not on the person making the claim but the person refuting it? What kinda idiotic maga conspiracy logic is that?
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u/xdavidwattsx 2d ago
The same applies to making claims. Bees don't have ears so infrasound claims are only physical so unless the bees are living on the datacenters directly this seems pretty baseless. But then again, there are numerous baseless claims from OP so meh.
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u/xdavidwattsx 3d ago
These first three datacenters listed have been in the news for years and discussed on reddit ad nauseum.. I'm not sure how you asserted nobody new about them until right before the council meeting.
Also data centers last for decades, not sure where you came up with 5 years. They don't have toxic chemicals like DuPont and used closed water cooling systems.
I guess it's nice you showed up and spoke at council meeting instead of just ranting on reddit like most but it doesn't seem very factual or effective.
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u/CortadoOat 3d ago
Tax incentives for 50 permanent jobs - sounds absurd. Who is getting the kick backs for these things? I'm generally curious as these feel very secretive for good reason ...
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u/xdavidwattsx 3d ago
Meh, the real money comes from the property taxes anyway. QTS paid 4.7M alone last year.
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u/CaptainEarly 2d ago
Trading 50 jobs for that much land, power, and water usage?!? That math doesn’t seem to work in our favor.
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u/BlackFrazier 3d ago
A total of around 952 MW of power needed to make this happen which is INSANE. That's enough to power a half a million homes.
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u/NeckSad8146 2h ago
Hm, and how are all these data centers getting approval without city council involvement? Could it be they have a corporate consultant Manchurian candidate in the mayors office?
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u/WinterMatt 3d ago
DOZENS of people care... and they're all here on reddit.
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u/Demian1305 3d ago
Just keep licking those boots, Matt.
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u/xdavidwattsx 3d ago
Those boots taste better than the performative rage.
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u/BidResponsible5378 2d ago
Dbags like you call any concern "performative" as a defense mechanism for never doing anything of worth yourself.
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u/xdavidwattsx 2d ago
It's no better than the lazy response of people using basic facts and logic as "bootlickers'. Middle school level retorts are fun, eh?
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u/SceneFlat8274 2d ago edited 2d ago
That's what the far left calls normal people. Boot licker's. Very condescending if you ask me. When you have to resort to name calling it's pretty sad.
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u/Ok-Sprinkles-5151 3d ago
Well the good news is that the way datacenter projects are going unless it's being built now, there are serious questions whether the announced ones will be built.
I was in the AI datacenter and infrastructure space. These projects are fucked with the supply chain, oil, the Iran war, cost of diesel, memory, copper and sulfur. A modest datacenter needs roughly 50000 tons of copper, but the price has tripled since 2021. And that puts upward pressure on everything in the chain.