The proposed ban on data centers in Pahrump and Nye County's unincorporated towns did not pass on August 4. After more than four hours of public comment, the board voted 5-0 to send the question to a special election instead, which cannot happen before January 2027. A motion for an immediate ban died without a second.
Understand what the board actually did, because it was not a decision. Commissioner Ian Bayne brought Bill No. 2026-11, which would have banned data centers in the parts of the county with no elected town board, Pahrump included. The board had the bill in front of them, in a county where more than 3,400 people signed a petition against data center development, and voted to let someone else decide later. Offered a second chance, a temporary ban lasting only until election day, four of the five would not even second it.
Maybe you think that is democracy, and a question this big belongs to voters. Maybe you think it is a board kicking the can five months down the road. Either way the practical effect is the same: the county's moratorium on new applications is what stands between now and January, and the projects already in the pipeline did not go away. That is what we will be watching.
If you have feelings about any of it, for the ban, against it, or about the wait itself, call and write your commissioner. Say where you live, be direct, and be civil. This is the contact information Nye County publishes for them:
- Bruce Jabbour, District 1, bjjabbour@nyecountynv.gov, 775-482-7320
- John Koenig, District 2, jkoenig@nyecountynv.gov, 775-751-4283
- Ian Bayne, District 3, commissionerbayne@gmail.com, 775-751-7075
- Ron Boskovich, District 4, reboskovich@nyecountynv.gov, 775-751-7075
- Debra Strickland, District 5, dlstrickland@nyecountynv.gov, 775-513-8491
Full reporting on the meeting and the vote is at the Pahrump Valley Times. Our meetings page tracks every upcoming county meeting, and public comment is taken at each one.