The data center fight in Charlestown, Rhode Island
As of September 27, 2026, Charlestown, Rhode Island has a data center moratorium in force (action taken Aug 11, 2026).
Status is derived, not stored — a pause with a documented end date flips to Expired on its own — and the source is right next to the claim.
Status today
Adopted unanimously (5-0); data centers and battery energy storage systems not permitted in any zoning district. Second RI town to ban data centers after Smithfield. No active proposals at time of vote; preemptive action citing Quonset and Smithfield controversies. Planning Commission unanimously endorsed in July.
SourceNews
read 2026-09-12
An expiry date is the earliest a pause could have ended — extensions are common, so confirm with the clerk before citing it.
What to do next
- Questions to ask at the hearing — force specific answers onto the record.
- Estimate the impact — electricity, water, and rate pressure for any facility size in Rhode Island.
- Model CBA clauses — copy-paste language communities have actually won.
- Rhode Island briefing — rates, grid carbon, PUC contacts, and every fight in the state.
Nearby in Rhode Island
- Westerly (8 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-07-27
- Smithfield (37 mi) — Enactedno end date — permanent
All 3 tracked actions in Rhode Island are on the state page.
As of August 2026 · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Part of the U.S. data center moratorium tracker — open data, CC BY 4.0.