The Vote
On Wednesday, September 10, the Weld County Board of Commissioners voted 5–0 to approve a Use by Special Review permit for Global AI, a New York-based AI infrastructure company, to build a roughly 41-acre data center on the former Kodak/Carestream Health industrial campus in unincorporated Weld County near Windsor. If built out as planned, it could become the largest data center in Colorado.
What the Community Said
The county received more than 400 written public comments before the hearing, and the hearing itself ran roughly eight hours with public testimony running heavily in opposition. The concerns that came up again and again:
- Water — how much the facility will draw, and what that means for household use in a region where water is already contested.
- Power — the first phase is expected to start around 27.5 megawatts (enough to power roughly 22,000 homes), and the company has said it aims for 1 gigawatt of network capacity by 2029. Residents questioned whether the grid — and their bills — can absorb that.
- Noise — Global AI says it plans to operate around 65 decibels; neighbors are skeptical, and backup diesel generators were flagged by both residents and county staff.
- Transparency and outreach — speakers said the company's outreach to nearby residents was thin and that too many questions were still unanswered when the vote was taken.
What the Company Promised
Global AI told commissioners the project would bring about 1,500 construction jobs and 200 long-term jobs to the county, and presented a "will-serve" letter from Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association for 35 megawatts of power. The company bought the 438-acre property for about $15.6 million last December.
Why It Matters
This approval lands while other Colorado local governments are enacting moratoriums on data center development. Weld County went the other direction — though commissioners did attach several conditions to the permit before voting. Whether those conditions have teeth is something this community will be watching.
Coverage of the hearing and vote is available from CPR News, Denver7, Colorado Newsline, and the Longmont Leader.
Now it's your turn: we've opened a verified community poll — Do you feel heard by the Weld County Commissioners' data center decision? One email-verified vote per person. Unverified votes never count.