Department of Interior judge has ordered a pause on the construction of a data center on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land near Boulder City. 

The decision followed two appeals of the BLM's original approval of the project this June, one filed by the city and another by the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity. A stay means that construction will be paused until the matter is settled in courts, a process that can take years. 

The project, originally slated to be built on city land, has angered and galvanized Boulder City residents. Dozens of people came out in opposition to the data center this summer. After pulling their city application, the developers of the project, Townsite Solar 2, moved to build the data center on BLM land outside the city. 

A key factor in the judge's decision was that Townsite Solar 2's original application was approved as a solar field farm in 2023. Townsite Solar 2 changed the project to be a data center this year, arguing the two uses were alike. 

In his written decision,  Department of Interior Administrative Judge David Gunter noted that solar field farms are not "substantially the same" as a data center, as Townsite Solar 2 said in its application. 

"Likewise, Boulder City argues that 'the installation of solar panels and modular battery storage units' is 'vastly different from a high security data center complex consisting of four data center buildings totaling 300,000 square feet,'" Gunter wrote, noting that a data center draws energy from the grid while a solar field adds energy to it. 

Gunter also said that, though developing data center infrastructure is a "matter of significant practical and economic importance" to the country, neither the developers, nor BLM, had proven that the Boulder City data center was particularly important to the buildout or that it would be a "major setback" in the national effort for artificial intelligence infrastructure. 

Olivia Tanager, president of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, said the pause was a "huge win" for environmentalists and a major setback for the developers. The data center was designed as a 167 MW center with an additional 70 MW of battery storage. Townsite Solar 2 is owned by parent company Skylar Capital Management, a hedge fund management company based in Houston. 

"We're thrilled," Tanager said. "Particularly given the precedent that this project could have set for how data centers could be constructed on public land."

Townsite Solar 2 and BLM did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication. 

In a statement, Lisa LaPlante, a spokesperson for Boulder City, said the city had several objections to the data center plan. 

"The City had appealed based on numerous concerns, including the site had not followed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Process as required by law," LaPlante said. "The City contends that the BLM did not consult with the City or provide adequate opportunity for public input on the approved data center, as required by federal law."