The St. Louis Board of Aldermen on Friday affirmed Mayor Spencer's executive order on data centers and adopted a companion resolution that directs city staff to develop a five-month regulatory framework and to require expanded conditional-use review for proposed facilities.

The resolution, sponsored by the Alderwoman from the First Ward, Alderman Schweitzer, passed after extended debate about water use, utility rates and the pace of local policymaking. The board voted to adopt the resolution in a recorded voice vote; the clerk announced the motion carried.

Why it matters: the action changes how new data-center projects will be handled in St. Louis by making them subject to more detailed conditional-use review and by asking city departments to produce interim regulations covering water, energy, and public engagement. Supporters said the step balances economic opportunity with neighborhood and environmental protections; opponents said the process remained rushed and could chill investment.

The resolution affirms Executive Order 92 and asks planning and building staff to prepare interim regulations and a list of 40 questions developers must answer during the conditional-use process. "If there are cases where we have new data centers being considered in our city that are going to raise the rates of utilities on our residents, I think that's something we need to know about and something we need to be aware of and very concerned about and regulate," Alderman Schweitzer said during floor remarks.

Speakers on both sides raised concerns about water usage and electricity demand. A planning memo cited in the discussion noted that a 15-megawatt center could use on the order of 20 million to 30 million gallons of water per year; opponents pointed to the city's stated water-treatment capacity of about 380 million gallons per day as context for the scale of those numbers.

Several aldermen urged deeper technical study and more time for hearings. "We need to pump the brakes here and get this right," said the Alderman from the Fourth Ward, who described the discussion as rushed and said the committee had not heard enough subject-matter testimony. Others, including members of the board's Public Infrastructure Committee, argued that the resolution and executive order provide a pragmatic interim path that preserves public input without a full moratorium.

The resolution also directs the Water Division and other departments to examine rate structures, reporting and public-engagement requirements and calls for collaboration with Ameren and other utilities when drafting the interim rules. "We should think about that and this part of the executive order and the resolution, to have the water division directed to look at the rate structure for data centers and recommend what that rate structure should be," one alderman said during questioning.

What happens next: city staff have been asked to draft regulations and reporting requirements on an accelerated timeline; the resolution establishes expectations for community outreach and additional review steps while the planning department pursues a longer-term zoning update.

The board adopted the resolution after floor debate and questions from multiple members. The vote was announced as carried; the chair directed clerk to record the adoption.