Reno Approved the Data Centers. Now It’s Trying to Regulate Them.
By the time Reno starts writing the rules for data centers, the concrete will already be dry, the walls will be up, one will be in your neighborhood, and it will be too late.
That’s the reality emerging from a March 20 memo prepared for Nevada lawmakers ahead of a statewide data center briefing this week. The document lays out, in detail, what’s happening across Nevada: an industry expanding at speed, infrastructure straining to keep up, and policymakers only now beginning to respond.
The memo reveals that Nevada already has 70 data center sites planned, under construction, or operational. This isn’t early-stage planning.
It’s late-stage momentum. And Reno is right in the middle of it.
Click on the image to read the memo from the State of Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau.
Keystone Isn’t the Exception. It’s the Pattern.
If you live near the 265 Keystone project, as I do, you see what is being imposed on Reno neighborhoods.
The memo confirms that Washoe County is already home to multiple data center projects, including the Keystone, Webb, and Oppidan developments.
What’s happening on Keystone is not an outlier. It’s the local sign of a statewide buildout.
And it’s happening under rules that were never designed for this scale. Or more accurately, no rules at all.
The 265 Keystone data center went up in my neighborhood without any rules in place.
Reno Had a Chance to Act And Didn’t
In February 2025, the Reno City Council tabled the motion to have a meeting to discuss adding regulations on data centers, covering water use, power demand, noise, and other impacts. That decision matters. Because it came before projects like Keystone accelerated.
Reno didn’t get caught off guard. It made a choice. It chose to allow development to proceed without a regulatory framework.
Now, months later, city leaders are signaling that new rules may be coming. But the sequence is backward:
First, the approvals. Then the construction.
Only now—the conversation about limits.
It’s like legislative ready, shoot, aim.
In this article, I explain how Councilmember Reese tries to position himself as an expert on Data Centers and acts as if he’s supporting the residents while enabling development.
The Scale Most People Haven’t Seen Yet
The memo points to something even bigger than Reno:
A cluster of data centers in Northern Nevada has already requested nearly 6 gigawatts of power, enough to rival major global markets.
In fact, based on current projections, Northern Nevada could become one of the largest data center hubs in the world by installed capacity.
That’s the real story. Not one building. Not one neighborhood.
A regional transformation is already underway, and it’s coming to you.
Power Is the Real Constraint
Data centers don’t just use electricity—they reshape the grid.
Nationally, their share of electricity consumption has more than doubled in just a few years and is projected to rise further by 2028.
In Nevada, that demand is already creating pressure:
NV Energy may struggle to meet the state’s clean energy targets because data center growth is outpacing renewable supply.
That’s not a zoning issue. That’s a statewide energy problem.
Water: The Debate Everyone Will Have
Water will be the flashpoint. The memo presents two competing realities:
On the one hand, large data centers can consume significant amounts of water, sometimes millions of gallons per day, depending on their size and cooling methods.
On the other hand, Reno-area projections show relatively modest usage for Keystone, about 651,000 gallons per year, far below that of casinos or hospitals.
So which is true? Both.
The 265 Keystone data center is smaller and uses air cooling. It is an exception.
The real issue isn’t just water usage, it’s context.
Nevada is the driest state in the country, and more than half of its groundwater basins are already over-allocated.
In a place where water is already spoken for, every new demand becomes political.
In this article, I explain the role of the Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency (TMRPA) and what they have determined about the impact of data centers.
What Happens Next
The state is now stepping in. A high-level legislative session this week will bring together utilities, regulators, environmental groups, tribes, and industry leaders to confront the issue.
Reno, meanwhile, is expected to revisit data center regulations soon, after quietly floating the idea and then pulling it from a recent council agenda.
That timing tells its own story.
The debate is coming. But it’s coming late.
Reno was going to have a meeting about data centers, as explained in this post by planning commissioner Becerra, but it got cancelled, and the projects went on anyway.
The Question Reno Has to Answer
Keystone is already underway, so are Webb and Oppidan.
More projects are in the pipeline.
The state is mobilizing. The city is reacting.
Which leaves one question:
Who is actually in control of this growth?
Because once infrastructure like this is built, once the land is graded, the permits issued, and the power allocated, regulation doesn’t stop it. It adjusts around it.
Reno didn’t miss the moment. It passed on it. Now the rules are coming after the fact.
And the people living next to these projects are left to wonder whether those rules will matter at all.
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OMG this is so bad! What happened to our Master Plan? What happened to affordable housing infill? People in Reno gather to protest No Kings & allow the Truckee River be sucked dry from underground & make our city a missile target! Reno City Council sits on the heads & are too lazy to read the details! A possible mini-nuke plant in a neighborhood?!? What could go wrong!
Another of our "best and brightest politicians" muddling along, considering, contemplating, reviewing, procrastinating, passing the buck, kicking the can and ultimately passively UNdedicing. All the while the developers - and data center builders are developers - get what they want, promising great benefits for Reno with another razzle dazzle Powerpoint presentation, smiles, and campaign donations.
"What's the worst that could happen?" How about a 30' concrete wall backing up to your backyard?
The place for these monstrosities is out at USA Parkway. End of subject. Data centers are cheap to build, ugly concrete tilt up buildings, so no great "construction employment gains" to brag about. Once built, the employ scant few "techs" as the modems and servers just buzz along without much maintenance needed.
Out at USA Parkway, they can build their own mini-nuke power plants for the electricity they voraciously consume, and make a deal with the Indians for Pyramid Lake water they need by the millions of gallons.
Our best and brightest. Ugh.