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HI — State Policy Updated 2026-07-17

Hawaii

Current, data-center-specific incentives Proposed (not enacted) incentives affecting data centers Moratoriums Zoning / land‑use controls Environmental constraints

1) Incentive programs

Current, data-center-specific incentives

  • Sales/use tax context: Hawaiʻi does not have a sales tax; instead it levies the General Excise Tax (GET) on business activity. Hawaii DOTAX GET overview
  • No active, data‑center‑specific GET exemption/credit. The former public internet data center GET exemption expired on 2005‑12‑31 and was later repealed. The statute defined eligibility by facility characteristics (public compensated use; 24/7 operations; redundant power, cooling, fire suppression, and security; and services such as co‑location and data backup) and did not include explicit investment or job‑creation thresholds. SB 834 (2003) — definition and sunset 2005‑12‑31 · HB 1900 (2008) — repeal of HRS §237‑29.65
  • Property tax abatements: Hawaiʻi’s real property tax is exercised exclusively by the counties, so any abatements would be county‑level rather than state‑level. State of Hawaiʻi Budget & Finance — state funding sources
  • Clean‑energy conditions: The cited data‑center‑related incentives do not specify renewable‑energy or clean‑energy conditions in their statutory text. SB 834 (2003) · SB 338 SD1 (2025)
  • 2026 tax-credit change: SB 3125 became Act 24 and, beginning 2028-01-01, repeals HRS §235-110.51, the Technology Infrastructure Renovation Tax Credit that SB 338 would have revived for data-server-related infrastructure. The law is a broader income-tax act, not a new data-center incentive. LegiScan SB3125 CD2 bill text, 2026-05-08 · Governor of Hawaii, 2026-06-02

Proposed (not enacted) incentives affecting data centers

  • 2024–2026 bills to revive a technology‑infrastructure renovation credit and explicitly include data servers.
    • HB 1784 (2024) proposed to reinstate the “technology infrastructure renovation” income tax credit for taxable years beginning after 2023‑12‑31 and sunset after 2026‑12‑31, and to expand the definition of “technology‑enabled infrastructure” to include data servers. HB 1784 hearing notice summary (HD1) · LegiScan HB1784 status
    • SB 338 (2025 carryover to 2026) proposed a 4% tax credit for technology‑infrastructure renovation costs and added data servers to the definition of “technology‑enabled infrastructure,” with availability for taxable years beginning after 2025‑12‑31. It received no action after being carried over, remained in House Finance, and died in committee at the end of the 2025–2026 biennium; it did not revive the credit. Act 24 instead repeals the underlying credit beginning 2028-01-01. LegiScan SB 338 status, accessed 2026-07-17 · Hawaii Legislature SB 338 HD1 text, 2025-03-21 · Hawaii Legislature SB 3125 CD2 text, 2026-05-08

2) Restrictions and moratoriums

Moratoriums

  • No statewide data‑center moratorium or ban located through 2026‑07‑17. The 2026 Legislature did not impose a siting pause; instead, it adopted study resolutions requesting a Hawaii State Energy Office working group on large data centers and potential safeguards. HCR 206 defines the study scope around facilities requiring 5 MW or more of instantaneous demand and asks the working group to examine ratepayer, grid, water, greenhouse-gas, renewable-energy, and reporting issues. Hawaii Legislature HCR 206 HD1 text, adopted 2026-04-27 · Hawaii Legislature HCR 206 status, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Hawaiʻi County Bill 170 (pending local prohibition/clarification): Introduced on 2026-06-12, Bill 170 would amend the zoning definitions so that a “data processing facility” expressly excludes a “data center.” It defines a data center as an industrial-scale computing facility requiring infrastructure beyond what is normally accessory or incidental to office, commercial, or public-institutional uses. Because unlisted uses are not permitted under Hawaiʻi County Code §25-4-4, the bill’s stated purpose is to make clear that industrial-scale data centers are not a permitted use in the county, rather than to create a new permitted category. On 2026-07-07, the council policy committee unanimously forwarded the bill to the Windward and Leeward Planning Commissions; it was not yet enacted as of 2026-07-17. Hawaiʻi County Bill 170, 2026-06-12 · Hawaiʻi Public Radio, 2026-07-08 · Big Island Video News, 2026-07-08

Zoning / land‑use controls

Environmental constraints

3) Local governance (state vs. county)

  • Counties are the primary zoning authorities within the state land‑use districts; the state does not generally preempt local zoning for data centers. HRS §205‑5 · HRS §46‑4 (county powers; zoning authority)
  • Conservation District permitting is state‑level (DLNR), which can override or constrain county approvals for sites in conservation areas. HRS §183C

4) Legislative activity (2024–2026)

  • HB 1784 (2024) — Proposed reinstatement of technology‑infrastructure renovation tax credit; adds data servers to qualifying infrastructure; applies to taxable years after 2023‑12‑31 and sunsets after 2026‑12‑31. HB 1784 hearing notice summary (HD1) · LegiScan HB1784 status
  • SB 338 (2025; carried over to 2026; died) — Similar tax credit proposal; includes data servers in qualifying infrastructure and applies to taxable years after 2025‑12‑31. It received no 2026 action after carryover and died in House Finance at the end of the biennium. LegiScan SB 338 status, accessed 2026-07-17 · Hawaii Legislature SB 338 HD1 text, 2025-03-21
  • HCR 206 / HR 196 / SR 90 (2026, adopted) — Requested the Hawaii State Energy Office to convene a working group to study impacts of large data centers on electric utilities, ratepayers, natural resources, and climate goals. HCR 206 was adopted in final form on 2026‑04‑27, HR 196 was adopted on 2026‑04‑09, and SR 90 was adopted as amended on 2026‑04‑09. LegiScan HCR206 status, 2026-04-27 · LegiScan HR196 status, 2026-04-09 · LegiScan SR90 status, 2026-04-09
  • SCR 95 (2026) — Senate concurrent companion to SR 90/HCR 206; the Senate adopted it as amended and transmitted it to the House, where it was referred to EEP and FIN on 2026‑04‑10 and did not receive final House adoption by the end of session. LegiScan SCR95 status, 2026-04-10
  • SB 3125 / Act 24 (2026) — Broader income-tax legislation that repeals the Technology Infrastructure Renovation Tax Credit beginning 2028‑01‑01 and the High Technology Business Investment Tax Credit and Tax Credit for Research Activities beginning 2029‑01‑01. LegiScan SB3125 CD2 bill text, 2026-05-08 · Governor of Hawaii, 2026-06-02
  • SB 2526 (2022, enacted 2022 but relevant ongoing implementation) — Requires OETS to ensure state IT systems resilience, which includes data center continuity planning (useful context for state‑owned facilities). SB 2526 (2022) act
  • SB 284 (2023, enacted 2023) — State IT modernization/management act touching OETS data center services and cloud strategy. SB 284 (2023) act

5) Notable projects / operators

  • Servpac — MTP Data Center (Mililani Technology Park, Oʻahu): Servpac operates the MTP Data Center and offers colocation, disaster-recovery, cloud, fiber, and managed-network services. Servpac, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Servpac Building 2 expansion (2026): Servpac announced and then publicized groundbreaking for Building 2 at MTP in early 2026. The expansion adds 15,500+ square feet, increases facility size by about 50%, more than doubles center capacity, and is described as a $13 million project on an additional 5 acres of company-owned land, with completion expected in Q2 2026, at least 15 permanent jobs, and about 150 temporary construction jobs. Servpac, 2026-01-28 · PR Newswire/Servpac, 2026-02-24
  • Servpac Building 2 environmental design: Servpac says Building 2 uses closed-loop cooling that eliminates water consumption for cooling and includes large-scale on-site solar deployment; no MW figure for Building 2 was disclosed in the cited announcement. Servpac, 2026-01-28 · Data Center Dynamics, 2026-02-10
  • Servpac completion status: The original announcement targeted completion in Q2 2026, but Servpac’s project page still described the facility as expected in Q2 and no completion announcement was located through 2026-07-17; the expansion should therefore remain classified as under construction/unconfirmed rather than completed. Servpac, accessed 2026-07-17
  • AlohaNAP expansion (Kapolei, Oʻahu): Operator 1547 Critical Systems Realty reported on 2026-03-31 that a 9,000-square-foot, 1.5 MW expansion was underway and would double AlohaNAP’s capacity. The operator’s facility plan also contemplates later phases, including a new high-density building, but no investment or completion date was disclosed in the March update. 1547 Critical Systems Realty, 2026-03-31 · 1547 AlohaNAP facility page, accessed 2026-07-17
  • DRFortress expansion planning (Honolulu, Oʻahu): In a 2026-05-20 interview, DRFortress co-founder and CFO Rosa White said the 65,000-square-foot facility was pursuing an additional 3 MW expansion to meet expected hyperscaler and AI edge demand. The disclosure did not state an investment amount, construction start, completion date, or job count, so it is best treated as a planned/pursued expansion rather than an announced construction completion. Cool Vector via Apple Podcasts, 2026-05-20
  • Hawaiian Telcom — data-center services: Hawaiian Telcom markets colocation at its Endeavor facility on Oʻahu and Kawaihae facility on Hawaiʻi Island, with redundant inter-island fiber paths. Hawaiian Telcom, accessed 2026-07-17
  • State of Hawaiʻi OETS data centers: State legislation recognizes OETS responsibility for data‑center operations, disaster recovery, and service continuity. SB 2526 (2022) act · SB 284 (2023) act
  • State data-center migration remained in progress: An April 2026 State investor information statement said several core services had moved to remote cloud environments while other workloads remained in active transition. The current ETS infrastructure page still listed DRFortress, the University of Hawaiʻi, and the Kalanimoku Building as shared-data-center sites, so the planned Kalanimoku decommissioning was not publicly confirmed complete by 2026-07-17. State of Hawaiʻi investor information statement, 2026-04 · Office of Enterprise Technology Services, accessed 2026-07-17

Notes

  • This summary emphasizes primary sources (statutes, county codes, and Legislature bill text) and official governance documents. Where county‑level data‑center‑specific zoning language was not explicit (e.g., Maui/Kauaʻi), the closest relevant categories in the codes are cited.