Rifle City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to give initial approval to a sweeping set of data center regulations, setting strict limits on noise, water use, light pollution and heat emissions for any future facility proposed within city limits — even though no developer has yet applied to build one there.
The vote, which took place on Nov. 4, sends the proposed code to a second reading scheduled for Nov. 18, according to Aspen Daily News. Rifle Planning Director Zach Higgins said the rules are designed to limit data centers' noise, water use, light pollution and heat emissions, and as reported by postindependent.com, the city has not received any formal applications for the facilities because it has not yet established an application process.
That hasn't stopped city leaders from moving preemptively. Rifle City Council member Alicia Gresley said the regulations were not prompted by an application or an incoming developer, according to Aspen Daily News. City Attorney James Neu framed the timing as strategic, saying adopting regulations now avoids the need for a future data-center moratorium, noting that a moratorium can typically last six months to a year at most. Fellow council member Karen Roberts said the rules should show residents how much officials care and how forward-looking they are.
What the Rules Would Require
Under the proposed code, the regulations would apply to any data center development consuming more than 20 megawatts at peak demand — enough, per the seed reporting, to power up to 20,000 homes at a time. The post-independent reporting quotes Higgins explaining the intent behind the power provisions: “The intent is that someone would have to create their own power supply.” Developers would also need to specify their power source and how that power will be paid for.
Applicants would be required to provide studies covering feasibility, noise, heat emissions, resource demand and water use. Higgins told the outlet that “we're requiring that the applicant do studies on what they're producing, impacts from that, and how it would affect our air, energy, heat, light.” Cooling systems would have to rely on closed-loop, non-evaporative water systems or similar conservation technology — a response to concerns that a large-scale data center could use more than 200,000 gallons of water per day.
The code also sets specific noise thresholds: data centers could not exceed 45 decibels at the daytime property line of a home, school, park or hospital, dropping to 40 decibels at night, with a separate low-frequency hum cap of 60 dBC at the nearest residential property line. Community and Environmental Defense Services has estimated that 60 dBC is comparable to an idling semi truck heard from 1,600 feet. Facilities would also need to sit at least 1,500 feet from residential, school, park or hospital property lines.
Ongoing Oversight and Enforcement
Once operating, data center operators would have to fund their own compliance verification, test noise quarterly for the first two years and annually afterward, and check heat emissions at startup and annually during peak summer. Lighting and water would require recurring verification, and operators would need to submit annual compliance reports to the council. Existing data centers would need council permission before increasing energy consumption by more than 10% or 25 megawatts, or before increasing water consumption at all.
Rifle City Council would retain authority to approve or deny each individual data center application, and could pursue permit revocation if violations aren't promptly addressed. Developers would also be required to hold a town hall meeting with residents before bringing a proposal to council, and the city would notify residents within 2.5 miles of any proposed development.
A Broader Western Slope and Statewide Push
Rifle isn't acting alone. Nearby Parachute advanced similar rules over the fall, and Garfield County commissioners plan to address data centers in the county's land-use codes, per Aspen Daily News. Local energy-provider officials reportedly expect developers to seek Western Slope sites within five to 10 years.
The pattern extends across Colorado. Eight municipalities and counties have enacted or are considering moratoriums or caps on data centers, according to The Colorado Sun. Grand Junction's City Council approved a first reading of a one-year moratorium ordinance covering facilities with projected electrical demand of one megawatt or more, as reported by WesternSlopeNow.com. Brighton and Lafayette have already passed temporary bans lasting one year and 18 months, respectively, per CBS Colorado.
Larimer County, meanwhile, has drafted rules that would block any data center drawing more than 30 megawatts, ban evaporative cooling, require that new facilities run on at least 80% clean renewable energy, and bar conversion of agricultural land — a response shaped by public input after more than 7,000 residents responded to a county survey, with 94% saying they didn't want data centers in the county at all, The Colorado Sun reported. In Colorado Springs, where Project Taurus is proposed with a projected continuous power demand of more than 50 megawatts — equivalent to over 40,000 homes' constant usage — an outside report from the Romer Institute recommended the city adopt a clear, consistently applied approval standard rather than handling each proposal case by case, according to The Gazette.
State lawmakers are also watching. Competing data center bills failed in the 2026 legislative session, and Kipp plans to use a rewritten bill as a starting point next year, according to The Colorado Sun. A report from Spencer Fane noted that local governments across Colorado have increasingly turned to zoning ordinances, special-use permits and temporary moratoriums to get ahead of the industry's expansion.
Separately, Rifle City Council heard a presentation from Wilderness Workshop asking the city to oppose a planned lease sale of 5,000 acres on the Roan Plateau for oil and gas drilling, though the council took no action on that request, Aspen Daily News reported.
