ID — State Policy Updated 2026-07-17

Idaho

1) Incentive programs

2) Restrictions and moratoriums

  • Kootenai County emergency moratorium (2025) is historical, not current. Resolution 2025-23 imposed a 182-day emergency moratorium on new data center building and development permit applications, retroactive to February 27, 2025, to allow the county to identify zones and develop regulations for data center placement, construction, and operation; the temporary moratorium had expired well before July 17, 2026. Kootenai County Resolution 2025-23, 2025-03-11
  • Kootenai County zoning restrictions now govern data center siting in the unincorporated county. County Code section 8.5.138 allows data centers only in Light Industrial and Industrial zones, requires setbacks including 150 feet from agricultural, residential, and certain commercial-residential parcel boundaries, requires screened mechanical and power equipment, sets a 10-acre minimum parcel size, and prohibits data centers over the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. American Legal Publishing Code Library, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Kootenai County application requirements focus on water, wastewater, recharge, and emergency services. Section 8.5.138 requires data center applications to include wastewater treatment and management plans, aquifer recharge plans, electric-service documentation, emergency-service plans, and related approvals or letters from public health, DEQ, IDWR, utility, and fire/emergency providers. American Legal Publishing Code Library, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Statewide water restriction is now in effect. House Bill 895 was signed by the Governor on April 2, 2026, as Session Law Chapter 291 and took effect July 1, 2026. Current Idaho Code section 42-252 provides that data centers beginning construction on or after July 1 may not use water for cooling as a consumptive use unless the water is supplied by a municipal, water district, or water-and-sewer district water system. Idaho Legislature H0895 status, 2026-04-02; Idaho Legislature, current Idaho Code section 42-252, accessed 2026-07-17
  • House Bill 895 also creates legislative findings for water-right review. The Legislature found that water required by data centers can conflict with local public interest, be contrary to water conservation, and adversely affect a local economy when the place of use is outside the watershed or local area of origin. Idaho Legislature H0895 bill text, 2026-03-16
  • Statewide large-load ratepayer protection is now in effect. House Bill 911 was signed by the Governor on April 10, 2026, as Session Law Chapter 335 and took effect July 1, 2026. Current Idaho Code section 61-335 requires commission-approved service contracts for new large loads of 50 MW or more within any consecutive 60-month period, a no-harm test, full cost-of-service funding, and financial security to protect other customers from stranded or unrecoverable costs. Idaho Legislature H0911 status, 2026-04-10; Idaho Legislature, current Idaho Code section 61-335, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Southern Canyon County groundwater-development moratorium: On March 20, the Idaho Department of Water Resources imposed a five-year moratorium on processing new and pending groundwater-right applications in a broad area south of Lake Lowell while it studies groundwater levels, injection-well effects, and pending development. The order is not data-center-specific and no reviewed source tied it to T5’s Nampa project, but it is a new water-development constraint relevant to future industrial siting in southern Canyon County. Idaho Department of Water Resources, 2026-03-20
  • No statewide data-center construction moratorium or zoning preemption was enacted in 2026. The enacted statewide measures are water-use and utility-cost protections, while land-use control remains primarily local. Idaho Legislature H0895 status, 2026-04-02; Idaho Legislature H0911 status, 2026-04-10

3) Local governance

  • Local control remains the baseline for siting. Idaho’s Local Land Use Planning Act authorizes local governments to adopt zoning ordinances, process conditional or special use permits, and decide land-use compatibility, which is the framework used by Kootenai County, Kuna, Nampa, Boise, and Pocatello for data center proposals. Idaho Legislature Title 67 Chapter 65, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Pocatello denied a major local data center CUP in May 2026. The Pocatello Hearing Examiner denied Lex Developments/Gus Schultz’s conditional use permit application for a potential data center at 1800 River Park Way, a city-described approximately 59-acre former Hoku Materials site, finding that the application did not adequately address power, water, wastewater, air quality, emissions, and other public-facility and environmental impacts. City of Pocatello Hearing Examiner Findings, 2026-05-19
  • Pocatello upheld the denial on appeal. Lex Developments and Gus Schultz appealed the hearing examiner’s denial on June 1. On July 16, the City Council voted 4-1, with one member absent, to uphold the denial. The developer cannot reapply for one year under the current process; its representative said it would appeal the council decision. City planning staff also began work on modernizing the code to address data centers expressly. Appeal and Request for Reconsideration, 2026-06-01; East Idaho News, 2026-07-16
  • The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes formally opposed the Pocatello project. The Fort Hall Business Council adopted a formal opposition resolution on May 21 covering data center development on the reservation, ceded lands, treaty-protected areas, and projects that could harm the reservation or residents. On July 7, the Tribes reaffirmed opposition to the Lex proposal, citing insufficient information on electricity-rate, water-resource, and environmental effects and calling for early, meaningful government-to-government consultation. Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, 2026-05-27; Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, 2026-07-07
  • Pocatello did not approve requested urban-renewal support for the Lex project. At the Pocatello Development Authority’s May 20 meeting, agenda items for Idaho Power and Intermountain Gas assessment studies and for $500,000 of concrete removal were both pulled before the meeting began; the board therefore did not approve either request. Pocatello Development Authority June packet containing May 20 minutes, 2026-06-17
  • Kuna water-use details became public in April. Kuna’s public works director said Meta’s first phase would use air cooling and its second phase water cooling; the property carries rights for nearly 3.7 million gallons per day, about 2.5 million gallons per day of rights were transferred to the city to serve the project, and peak July-August use was expected to be just under 2 million gallons per day, although average-flow data were not yet available. The same report said Gemstone had three rights totaling 1.63 million gallons per day and a pending nature-of-use transfer, while water-user and academic sources urged continued monitoring as population and drought pressure grow. BoiseDev, 2026-04-28

4) Legislative activity (2024-2026)

5) Notable projects and operators

  • Meta (Kuna, Ada County) is under construction and was near peak construction in early 2026. Construction Equipment Guide reported approximately 1,400 construction workers on site, exterior work complete on all buildings, total regional investment still $800 million, and an expected operational date by the end of 2026 after AI-driven redesign delays. Construction Equipment Guide, 2026-01-07
  • Meta’s Kuna community infrastructure commitment is now reported at $70 million, higher than the earlier $50 million figure in initial state announcements; Meta materials state that the company invested $70 million to build a water and wastewater treatment system to be given to the City of Kuna to own and operate. Meta Kuna Data Center info sheet, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Diode Ventures / Gemstone Technology Park (Kuna) remains a proposed large campus. Nearby farmers sought judicial review of Kuna’s 2025 approval based on an alleged council conflict of interest; the developer intervened to defend the approval, and April reporting described the project as on hold during the litigation. BoiseDev, 2026-02-10; BoiseDev, 2026-04-28
  • ValorC3 (Boise) became a 2026 expansion item: ValorC3 had approval for a 38,000-square-foot, more-than-$20 million building at 9601 W. Emerald Street, said the initial facility would deliver 10 MW of capacity, and filed a preliminary application for another 31,000 square feet that would bring the combined building to about 70,000 square feet. BoiseDev, 2026-03-26
  • T5 Data Centers (Nampa) moved from land-use approval into permitted construction. Nampa issued a commercial permit on April 30 for the $73 million “Project Bedrock” upfit of the existing warehouse at 8300 Birch Lane for T5 occupancy, including electrical infrastructure, mechanical/cooling systems, structural work, fire/life-safety work, and an outdoor equipment yard. Earlier project materials put demand at about 2.5 MW initially and 8.25 MW after buildout. City of Nampa April 2026 Activity Report, 2026-05-15; Data Center Dynamics, 2025-09-04
  • Lex Developments / Pocatello AI data center was the largest new 2026 proposal identified in Idaho during this update window. Applicant materials estimated $2.26 billion of shell-and-core investment for a seven-building, 200 MW full buildout on approximately 59 acres at 1800 River Park Way, while the initial Idaho Power study request was for a ramp to 100 MW by 2031. The CUP was denied in May and the City Council upheld that denial on July 16; the developer said it would appeal. Regional Economic Development for Eastern Idaho, 2026-05-14; Pocatello Development Authority May packet, 2026-05-20; East Idaho News, 2026-07-16
  • Raft River / Magic Valley prospect remains preliminary: BoiseDev reported April 6, 2026 that Terra Volt Infrastructure was in discussions for a possible master-planned data center campus near Raft River, but there was no application on file and no firm construction timeline. BoiseDev, 2026-04-06

Notes on sources

  • This update relies on official Idaho Legislature bill text and status pages, IPUC records where relevant, local government land-use documents, and project reporting where primary local filings or company documents were unavailable.