Hawaii: data centers & your electric bill
As of October 1, 2026, AI GridWatch tracks 1 data center moratorium or pushback action in Hawaii: none in force, 1 expired, rejected or rescinded. The state has 8 tracked data center facilities using an estimated 0.1 TWh of electricity a year.
Everything GridWatch tracks in Hawaii on one page — proposed projects, moratoriums, permits, officials, and the 2026 ballot.
Subscribe by RSS — moratorium changes and community headlines for Hawaii.
As of July 2026 (3m ago) · changes over months · Source: U.S. Data Center Power Map by State — ElectricChoice.com compilation (updated July 2026; CC-BY 4.0). Underlying load research: LBNL 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report; rates: EIA
Facility counts vary by directory because each one draws the boundary differently — DataCenterMap lists 44 in Alabama where this table says 35, since it counts small network rooms alongside hyperscale campuses. Cite the TWh figure rather than the facility count when you can; it is the number that speaks to grid impact. Underlying load research is LBNL-2001637 (Dec 2024).
1Proposed data centers in Hawaii
GridWatch is not yet tracking a named project in Hawaii. That is a gap in our coverage, not evidence that nothing is proposed — most projects surface first in a zoning agenda, weeks before any reporting.
2Pushback already happening in Hawaii
| Where | Level | Status | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii County | County | Under Reviewterm not documented | Bill 170 (Councilmember Heather Kimball) amends county zoning code to declare industrial-scale data centers 'not a permitted use in the County.' Policy Committee voted 8-0 to forward to planning commissions. Windward Planning Commission voted 4-0 to defer (Sep 3). Leeward Commission meets Oct 15. Both must recommend by Nov 4 or it defaults to negative. Planning Director prefers size limits (10,000 sq ft cap) over total ban. Over 40 testimonies, mostly supportive. | SourceNews read 2026-09-12 |
As of August 2026 (2m ago) · 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.
3Every data center already built in Hawaii
GridWatch does not yet track a named hyperscale campus in Hawaii, but that does not mean the state has none. DataCenterMap keeps a public directory of existing facilities — street addresses included — for Hawaii.
Two caveats before you cite it at a hearing: it lists facilities that already exist, so a newly proposed campus will not appear; and it counts a small network room the same as a hyperscale campus, so the facility count is not a measure of power draw or community impact.
4Your regulator
Hawaii Public Utilities Commission — website · file a complaint
Official state energy data: EIA Hawaii electricity profile — generation, prices, and consumption from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
5Where the Hawaii paper trail lives
Air & environmental permits: Hawaii DOH — Clean Air Branch
No searchable register. Hawaii does not publish a permit database you can query. A public-records request to the agency is the only route to the file.
No organised market. There is no interconnection queue to read here; the utility's own resource plan and the PUC docket are the record.
These are places to look, not evidence that anything has been filed. Links were checked on 2026-08-21; search links are queries, not records.
6Your federal delegation and governor
Grades cross party — this is an issue axis, not a partisan one. A blank grade means no documented action was located, never that the official is neutral.
| Grade | Official | Documented action (sourced) | Reach them |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Josh Green Democratic · Governor | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Brian Schatz Democratic · Senator · next on the ballot 2028 | No documented action on data centers located Guardrails Schatz has said on the Senate floor that AI data centers are the main driver of rising electricity demand, and in a December 2025 interview agreed that data centers should fund distributed solar and storage on homes in exchange for grid capacity. sources | site · contact |
| — | Mazie K. Hirono Democratic · Senator · next on the ballot 2030 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Ed Case Democratic · Representative 1 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Jill N. Tokuda Democratic · Representative 2 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
Roster: regenerated by scripts/refresh_officials.py (Senate XML + congress-legislators + current governors).
Write to your senators → Your senators in detail → Full officials scorecard → Find your state legislators →
72026 U.S. Senate
Neither Hawaii Senate seat is on the 2026 ballot. Your senators are still the people who vote on federal siting and tax policy — their records are in the delegation table above.
82026 U.S. House races in Hawaii (2)
A documented data-center record exists in 2 of 2 districts. A candidate with no badge colour has said nothing we could locate — that is a gap in the record, not a neutral position. ★ marks an incumbent.
| District | PVI | Incumbent | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
| HI-1 | D+13 | Ed Case | Ed Case ★ Adriel Lam Jordan Conley Nathan Berning |
| HI-2 | D+12 | Jill Tokuda | Jill Tokuda ★ Brenton Awa Edward Codelia Randall Terry |
The documented records (2 districts)
HI-1
Ed Case (Democratic) · incumbent Consensus vote only
On the record only for voting yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (417-3). No other data-center record located yet.
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-22.
HI-2
Jill Tokuda (Democratic) · incumbent Consensus vote only
On the record only for voting yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (417-3). No other data-center record located yet.
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-22.
9Latest Hawaii data center news
No Hawaii data-center headlines in this week's national scan — local coverage often runs ahead of it.
A data center was proposed near you?
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