The Bureau of Land Management is asking the Interior Board of Land Appeals to “set aside” its decision to approve a right-of-way amendment for the Townsite Solar II project near Boulder City.
Townsite Solar II is a data center development proposed by Skylar Capital Management. As proposed, it would consist of a 167 MW data center with 70 MW of battery storage.
It was initially proposed on 88.5 acres within Boulder City limits. The development team later withdrew its original application after the Planning Commission recommended denial.
Developers then resubmitted the project on BLM territory just outside the city on a site that had received approval for a solar farm in 2023. The solar farm plan was scrapped to accommodate the data center, allowing it to bypass the National Environmental Policy Act process, as it had already been conducted.
Following the BLM’s approval, two separate appeals were filed by the City of Boulder City, as well as the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity. NVBEX has extensively covered this project.
Setting the initial approval aside is intended to give the BLM more time to review the application. Administrative Judge David Gunter granted a stay to prevent construction while appeals were being processed.
The development team announced it has no objection to further environmental review and said it would work with the BLM.
