ACT told to freeze new data centres as AI power and water demands grow

The Conservation Council ACT is demanding a halt on new and expanded data centres across the territory until tougher rules are legislated locally and federally. Director Simon Copland said the growth of AI makes this the moment to pause. Fifteen data centres already operate in the ACT, with the first built back in 2007.

The flashpoint is a second CDC Data Centres facility in Beard, near Canberra Airport, conditionally approved in September. The $200 million, three-storey building would hold 12 data halls and sit beside CDC's existing centre in the suburb. The application landed a week before the ACT government promised a data centre framework covering where centres can go, what standards they must meet and how proposals get assessed.

Copland said the first stage at Beard is expected to consume 5 per cent of the ACT's peak energy, with the proposed second centre using double that. He also flagged water, pointing to climate forecasts of reduced flows in the territory's major rivers. He wants centres to operate only where water supply is secure, and wants investment in closed-loop cooling to cut draw on the system.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr dismissed the moratorium idea in August, saying the ACT already has rigorous planning, environmental, utility and regulatory requirements. Federally, the government is drafting national AI standards and oversight that would force large-scale AI data centres to minimise water use and fund their own power. In June, independent ACT senator David Pocock called for a tax on data centre operators plus stronger environmental protections.

Pushback is spreading beyond the capital. Plans for an AI data centre in Sydney's Cooks River were scrapped after community backlash over the past weekend, while proposals for Lane Cove and Guildford were dropped in September. The ACT Greens and other community groups have joined the call for a moratorium.

CDC chief executive Greg Boorer pushed back, saying nobody has complained about the company's facilities in 20 years of operating in Canberra. He said CDC already uses closed-loop cooling, and credited Australian planning rules with preventing the free-for-all he described in Texas, where gas jet engines have been dropped next to homes. Even so, Boorer conceded the sector needs to engage communities better, saying: We actually have to do a better job.