Why Should Delaware Care?
Residents have voiced concerns about energy and environmental impacts of a massive data center project planned for Delaware City. But business leaders and unions feel new regulations would risk stifling what could become a major new industry in the state.

Earlier this month, several New Castle County councilmembers denounced an ordinance to regulate the data-center industry because it would have retroactively imposed new rules on a controversial plan to build a massive facility near Delaware City.

On Friday, the sponsor of the proposal, Councilman Dave Carter, eliminated the retroactivity clause from the proposal in an effort to win over his skeptical colleagues.  Two have since signaled that they may now support the new rules.

Still, it remains unclear whether Carter’s ordinance has enough yes votes to become law. The New Castle County Council is scheduled to vote on the measure during its regular meeting on Tuesday.

The sweeping legislation includes new rules that would require data centers to have buffer zones around them, and to use energy-efficient backup generators, among other regulations.

Get Involved: The New Castle County Council will meet on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Louis L. Redding City/County Building, 800 N. French Street in Wilmington. Residents can attend and comment in-person or online. 

The public reaction to Carter’s ordinance has similarly been split. 

When proposed last summer, the 6-million-square-foot, Delaware City data center plan sparked a wave of opposition. Many residents feared it would harm the environment and place too much energy demand on an already stressed electricity grid. 

During a county planning meeting last month, those opponents called Carter’s proposed regulations common-sense guardrails for a booming industry that is spreading in Delaware 

But, last month, the developer of the data center – Starwood Digital Ventures – won the endorsement from a critical voting block when it signed an agreement to use union labor in the project’s construction.

Such then, members of building trades unions have come out in full force to oppose the Carter’s regulations, which they say could stop the industry from coming to Delaware entirely. 

The differing perspectives led to a tense County Council meeting earlier this month, which included council members jeering and reprimanding one another in front of a packed crowd of people. 

By the end of the meeting, it was clear Carter didn’t have enough support for his ordinance.

County Councilman Penrose Hollins, who had expressed concerns during that meeting, now tells Spotlight Delaware that “once the retroactivity is moved out, I’m going to support it.”

Councilwoman Valerie George similarly said, “If it doesn’t have any retroactivity, absolutely I would consider voting for it.”

Asked to clarify what she meant by “consider voting for it,” George said she had not yet seen Carter’s amended ordinance, and she wanted to check if there were any other retroactivity clauses before committing to vote for it. 

The remaining members of the New Castle County Council did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. 

What do the regulations say?

Under Carter’s proposed regulations, a data center in New Castle County could be located 500 feet from residences if a developer can prove that there are sufficient noise mitigation measures at the facility. If not, the buffer expands to 1,000 feet.  . 

Data center developers would also need energy efficiency certifications for generators used for emergency power supply. Additionally, the proposed rules would ban cooling processes that use large amounts of water, among other regulations. 

Delaware Building Trades Vice President James Ascione told Spotlight Delaware he thinks the regulations are “really heavy handed,” and could discourage developers from building data centers in Delaware. 

“We don’t want to say we welcome business, then when business comes here, we reactively regulate them,” Ascione said. 

Environmentalists counter that any buildout of data centers in Delaware must be done sustainably in conjunction with energy conservation. 

“This ordinance isn’t about stopping data centers, it’s about common sense,” Sierra Club Delaware Chapter President Dustyn Thompson said during the council meeting earlier this month. “We can have economic development, we can have jobs, and we can protect the people.”

The Sierra Club recently purchased $3,000 worth of Facebook advertisements encouraging residents to support Carter’s regulations. Thompson said the Sierra Club ads were funded by donations. 

Starwood has also posted Facebook ads about what it says are the benefits that its plan — dubbed Project Washington — would bring to the state.  

“Tired of tax increases? Support Project Washington!” one of the advertisements said, referencing recent property tax spikes that occurred in several school districts across New Castle County.

While Carter’s amended ordinance would not apply to the Delaware City data center, there is still a way the council could impose these rules on the project. 

Starwood wants to build the data center across two properties. One is zoned for industrial use. One is not. The company has filed a rezoning request for the latter property.

When County Council decides whether to approve that request, it can require Starwood to follow the same regulations set forth in the ordinance as a condition for that approval, Carter said. 

But, he clarified, if Starwood decided to build a smaller data center only on the property zoned for industrial use, it would not need to follow these regulations. 

Asked last month if his company might move forward on only the industrial property, Starwood CEO Anthony Balestrieri said, “We haven’t considered that.”

Read more from Spotlight Delaware

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Wayne Favors III had a pick-six, sparking Delaware State in a 26-13 win over Howard on Saturday.

Favors picked off a Tyriq Starks pass on a play starting at the Bison’s own 9-yard line, and his touchdown gave the Hornets (8-3, 4-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic) a 23-6 lead.

The Bison (4-7, 1-3 MEAC) were limited to 43 yards on the ground, adding their only touchdown on a 60-yard connection from Starks to Andre Cooper II with 2:32 remaining. Starks was 21-of-39 passing for 252 yards with two interceptions.

Five Delaware State players rushed for at least 21 yards in a 205-yard performance for the Hornets, who lead the FCS with 283.6 rushing yards per game. Marquis Gillis led Delaware State with 92 yards on 16 attempts.

Jayden Sauray (21 yards on six carries) kept one for a touchdown and Ryan Pellum Taylor had the other, a 4-yard effort, on his lone carry of the day.

___

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Lawyers for state and gun rights advocates spar during hearing

Beyond the gun advocates’ objections that the law violates the “right to bear arms” guaranteed in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, they argued during Thursday’s 75-minute hearing that Delaware officials botched the rollout of the permitting process.

State police, who oversee the State Bureau of Identification, did not have an application available until Oct. 28, 19 days before prospective buyers would be required to present a laminated permit similar to a driver’s license to make a purchase.

Since state officials have 30 days to decide on a permit, the gun rights lobby argued in court filings and before Noreika that the delays in opening the application portal could create an unconstitutional de facto ban on purchasing a handgun starting Sunday.

They also asserted that SBI’s requirements should have gone through the state’s copious process to create regulations, which often takes several months and gives residents time to offer comments on proposed rules.

“The government, the state, is treating this natural right [to buy handguns] like it were a government gift, like food stamps,’’ Pileggi said during the hearing. “Due to their lack of planning, they waited until the last minute” to open an application process filled with obstacles for would-be handgun buyers.

“Now they say because a few permits have been issued, [his clients] should be happy and go home,” he added.

Lawyers for the state countered that more than 200 permits have already been issued, though they acknowledged that all but three were approved for law enforcement officers and others exempted from taking the training course or firing live rounds at a shooting range. The state also argued that while regulations can be put in place to implement a law, they are not required.

Noreika, however, said during the hearing that it appeared to her that state police added requirements that were not in the law and normally would require official regulations.

She noted a couple provisions cited by Pileggi that are on the state’s website as “firearms training course guidelines.” Those rules say SBI must approve training courses and instructors. The law does not require such approvals.

Noreika also personalized her inquiry. She speculated that if she had taken a FBI firearms course three years ago, she might think it wasn’t valid since the FBI is not on the state website’s list of approved instructors.

While state attorney Austin Evers said SBI would merely check that the FBI course meets the requirements outlined in the law, Noreika countered that she would have no way of knowing that if she wanted to get a permit, and might think she needed to take a new course, which could take weeks to schedule and complete.

Evers said the state would remove those provisions to clear up any confusion among permit seekers and to remain within the bounds of the law so no official regulations would need to be proposed, reviewed and approved — a process that takes several months.

The state’s lawyer also told the judge that the law and how it’s being implemented is the opposite of a ban and will result in fewer handgun deaths.

“This statute has two core principles: a scheme to allow people to buy and and sell handguns — not a total ban — to address real threats to public safety,’’ Evers said.

Jennings, who attended Thursday’s hearing, said afterward that regardless of what Noreika decided on the injunction issue, she believes the law that was passed in 2024 after a five-year legislative effort will ultimately be upheld.

Jennings said afterward that she didn’t think Noreika would issue an injunction because the judge would first need to determine that the lawsuit had a “likelihood of success on the merits.’’

She said similar permit bills have been upheld in other states — such as in neighboring Maryland — and that in Delaware, “we firmly believe that this law is constitutional and passes muster.”