Weld County Approves Global AI Data Center With Limits on Water, Noise and Expansion

Weld County, Colorado, has approved Global AI’s plan to operate a data center near Windsor, giving the company its needed land-use permit while attaching conditions on cooling, noise and eventual cleanup. The decision clears a defined first phase at a vacant industrial facility, not an open-ended redevelopment of the wider property.

The Board of County Commissioners voted 5-0 on September 9 to approve a Use by Special Review permit for Global AI (Colorado), LLC. The application covers a 41-acre data center at the former Carestream Health property, an existing industrial site at 2000 Howard Smith Avenue West in unincorporated Weld County.

Approval answered a narrow land-use question

County officials frame the vote as permission for the use proposed in this application: a data center in a vacant light-industrial facility. It does not authorize future phases, infrastructure beyond the approved plan, or construction without building, electrical, mechanical, fire-safety, utility, environmental and other approvals.

Conditions address the concerns raised at the hearing

The hearing followed more than 400 written public comments raising concerns about water and electricity demand, environmental effects and noise. The county required a closed-loop cooling system, while Global AI’s first phase is expected to begin at 27.5 megawatts of power.

The permit’s local safeguards

• Closed-loop cooling starts with an initial fill of about 65,000 gallons and needs about 6,500 gallons of annual replenishment.
• Noise must remain at established ambient levels around the site; county standards also set a 65 dB(C) property-line limit.
• Global AI must secure a bond to cover decommissioning costs.

Electricity remains a live point of disagreement. Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association said it was prepared to deliver 35 megawatts, but opponents argued its will-serve letter did not show how that power would physically reach the site. County rules require applicants to provide such a letter; they do not settle every infrastructure question raised by critics.

A modest first-phase workforce beside larger economic promises

The county says the first phase is expected to employ about 20 people. Global AI has separately estimated about 1,500 construction jobs and 200 long-term jobs for the project, figures that describe a broader economic case rather than the initial operating headcount alone.

Global AI’s chief operating officer said the first data hall could be operational later in 2026. Before that can happen, the company must complete the remaining approvals required for the approved phase. The county’s vote resolves the central land-use decision, but not the practical disputes over delivery of power or the terms of any future expansion.