Letter to the Editor - Luschas: Help with the data center petition in Sioux Falls

I would like to thank all the volunteers who helped to circulate the “cell tower” petition, which succeeded in putting the Brandon City Council’s rezoning decision on the ballot. As reported in the BV Journal on 12/03/2025, the campaign was able to collect more than the 394 signatures needed to force a public vote on the matter. This undertaking forged new connections in the community through lots of fruitful discussions among Brandon residents who did not previously know each other. The result is that the citizens of Brandon themselves get to decide in November 2026. This is what I call democracy at work.

We now have a new call to action. At the Sioux Falls City Council meeting on 01/06/2026 the rezoning of about 160 acres of land in Sioux Falls from agricultural to light industrial use was approved 7-0. This happened despite an unusually large public turnout and more than 60 citizens speaking out against the rezoning. Why does this matter to residents of Brandon? Because this particular parcel of land is right at the northwestern border of Brandon, within a half-mile of “The Bluffs” neighborhood. The rezoning was the start of the process to allow the construction of a massive data center on that land.

Data centers are big energy as well as water consumers. This particular data center is supposed to consume almost as much electrical energy as the city of Sioux Falls itself. The representative from Excel Energy admitted at the City Council meeting that they were not sure how they would power it. Citizens also expressed concerns about noise, environmental pollution, and electromagnetic radiation.

My main concern is the real purpose of this data center, which not many people are talking about. Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers can be located anywhere because the bandwidth necessary for these applications is comparably small. What would necessitate a big data center in the Sioux Falls metropolitan area is the need to centrally store and process all locally collected tracking data. I am referring to our personal data from digital surveillance devices like cell phones, doorbell cameras, TVs, computers, automatic licenses plate readers that are popping up in and all around the city, etc.

Concerned residents in Sioux Falls have started their own petition as of 01/09/2026 to force a public vote on the rezoning decision. They have 20 days until 01/29/2026 to collect 7,552 signatures. This is obviously a much greater number than what the petition team in Brandon had to achieve. Although this piece of land is closer to Brandon homes than to homes in Sioux Falls, the people of Brandon do not have a say in this matter. It falls solely under Sioux Falls’ jurisdiction.

There is still something Brandon residents can do to help the “Let Sioux Falls Vote” petition team. We cannot sign the petition as Brandon residents, but we can volunteer our time to circulate the petition and to knock on doors to get signatures. We can talk to people we know in Sioux Falls to help spread the word. More information can be found on the Facebook group “Let Sioux Falls Vote”.

It becomes clearer and clearer that the age of the expert is waning. We used to be able to trust leaders in their profession to make sound decisions in the interest of the common good. We used to be able to trust politicians to have their constituents’ best interest in mind. We have to face the fact that big corporate interests are controlling more and more aspects of our life, even in Brandon, S.D. The time has come for more civic engagement.

I hope to see you somewhere on the streets of Sioux Falls in the next two weeks.

Manuel Luschas

Brandon