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Regbase

The Data Center Divide

Town of Smithfield

This restriction takes precedence while in effect. The rating below excludes temporary restrictions.

Neutral Data Center Policies

Smithfield’s description uses future wording, while the law is labeled enacted; it bars building or expanding data centers in every town zoning district and omits a two-year review provision.

Rating from Rhode Island statewide as there are no scored current or future laws outside temporary restrictions for Town of Smithfield.

current law · Town of Smithfield
Adopts by a 4–1 vote a townwide zoning prohibition on data centers, listing them as a use not permitted in every zoning district, as recorded in the meeting minutes.Smithfield zoning amendment prohibiting data centers (2026)

What this means

The Smithfield zoning amendment would make data centers not permitted in every zoning district, an outright bar to building or expanding them in town (“Not Permitted (N) in all zoning districts”). The council adopted the amendment, and the meeting record confirms the final version did not include a two-year review provision (“does not include that”).

Timing

The measure functions as an interim prohibition by listing data centers as not permitted in all zoning districts. Although the original draft included review two years after the effective date, the Town Council considered and adopted the version without that review provision. No expiration or extension condition is stated; the prohibition remains in effect unless later amended or repealed.

People behind it

  • Smithfield Town Council vice president and explicitly identified sponsor of the proposed data-center zoning amendment.

  • Smithfield Town Council member and explicitly identified sponsor of the proposed data-center zoning amendment.

  • Smithfield Town Council member and explicitly identified sponsor of the proposed data-center zoning amendment.

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  • Smithfield Director of Planning & Economic Development who prepared and submitted the staff memorandum and ordinance drafts for the data-center amendment.

  • Reviewed the proposed data-center zoning amendment and issued a positive recommendation to the Town Council.

  • Introducer of Rhode Island Senate Bill 2346 and Senate Bill 2776.

  • Introducer of Rhode Island Senate Bill 2346 and Senate Bill 2776.

  • Introducer of Rhode Island Senate Bill 2346 and Senate Bill 2776.

  • Introducer of Rhode Island Senate Bill 2346.

  • Introducer of Rhode Island Senate Bill 2346.

  • Introducer of Rhode Island Senate Bill 2346 and Senate Bill 2776.

  • Introducer of Rhode Island Senate Bill 2776.

  • Administering entity for Senate Bill 2346's proposed qualified data-center certification and tax-incentive program.

  • Responsible under Senate Bill 2346 for reviewing applications, certifying qualified data centers, reviewing compliance, and administering the proposed incentive program.

  • Identified in Senate Bill 2346 as a consulting official for review of the proposed data-center sales-and-use-tax exemption.

  • Responsible under Senate Bill 2776 for requiring data centers to bear attributable electric-system costs and establishing related rate mechanisms.

  • Responsible under Senate Bill 2776 for consulting with the Public Utilities Commission and potentially conditioning approvals involving electric facilities serving covered data centers.

  • Responsible under Senate Bill 2776 for receiving data-center water-use reports and potentially requiring water-efficiency plans and site-restoration assurance.

  • Authorized under Senate Bill 2776 to require water-efficiency, conservation, or recycling plans and site-restoration assurance.

Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements11

  • Smithfield classifies data centers as a distinct land use and lists them as not permitted in every zoning district.

  • The Smithfield prohibition applies to principal-use data centers, but excludes server rooms, network closets, telecommunications equipment, and similar IT infrastructure that is accessory and subordinate to another permitted principal use.

  • The Smithfield ordinance takes effect 30 days after Town Council passage and adoption under the Town Charter and Rhode Island zoning law.

  • Proposed Rhode Island Senate Bill 2346 limits qualified data-center tax incentives to facilities meeting minimum investment thresholds of $200 million in an enterprise or qualified opportunity zone, or $400 million elsewhere.

  • Proposed Senate Bill 2346 requires a qualified data center to spend at least $30 million on direct or indirect labor and invest at least $10 million in Rhode Island renewable energy or energy storage to qualify for the incentive.

  • Proposed Senate Bill 2346 requires qualified data centers to maintain at least $5 million in direct or indirect labor expenditures annually from the seventh through the thirtieth year after certification.

  • Proposed Senate Bill 2346 imposes financial penalties for failing to meet the required investment, labor, or renewable-energy/energy-storage thresholds, including penalties of 7%, 7.5%, and 10% of the applicable shortfall.

  • Proposed Senate Bill 2776 requires data centers with projected or actual electric demand of at least 50 megawatts at one site to bear exclusively the costs reasonably attributable to electric generation, transmission, or distribution infrastructure needed to serve them.

  • Proposed Senate Bill 2776 requires qualifying data centers to submit annual reports to the Department of Environmental Management stating average and peak daily water withdrawals, cooling technologies, and water-recycling or reuse practices.

  • Proposed Senate Bill 2776 authorizes the Department of Environmental Management to require a qualifying data center to submit a water-efficiency, conservation, or recycling plan as a condition of a permit.

  • Proposed Senate Bill 2776 authorizes the Department of Environmental Management to require financial assurance for site restoration if a qualifying data center is abandoned or ceases operations.

Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions5

  • Qualified data centers may receive a state sales-and-use tax exemption for qualified data center equipment, including servers, networking equipment, generators, power infrastructure, cooling systems, water-conservation systems, monitoring equipment, security systems, and modular data-center components. The exemption applies only to facilities meeting the statutory investment, labor, and renewable-energy or energy-storage requirements: at least $200 million of investment in an enterprise or qualified-opportunity zone, or $400 million elsewhere; at least $30 million in qualifying labor costs; and at least $10 million invested in Rhode Island renewable energy or energy storage.

  • The sales-and-use tax exemption for a certified qualified data center lasts for 30 years from the certification’s effective date, subject to compliance reviews and potential penalties if the facility fails to meet the required investment, labor, or renewable-energy commitments.

  • The Commerce Corporation must decide a completed qualified-data-center certification application within 60 days. If it does not act within that period, the application is deemed approved, and written certification must be issued within 14 days.

  • A qualified-data-center tax certification may take effect on a future date specified in the application, as long as that date is no more than five years after the application is submitted. This allows the facility to preserve the exemption before construction or operations begin.

  • The proposed labor-law amendments exclude maintenance work performed for qualified data centers from the labor-peace-agreement requirement that otherwise applies to covered projects.

Sources

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