NV Reno / 6-1 vote / first Nevada moratorium / June 1 final

Reno is the second Mountain West city to enact a data-center moratorium this month (after Denver's May 18 vote, which is happening today), and the first in Nevada to do so at any level of government. The 6-1 vote at a 7-hour special meeting is one of the largest public-engagement events for a moratorium in 2026 — over 100 speakers, the council had to schedule a special meeting specifically for the moratorium consideration (rather than rolling it into a regular agenda), and the council chambers were packed. The 'pending moratorium' mechanism is a Nevada-specific procedural form: under Nevada Revised Statutes, a city council can adopt a 'pending moratorium' that takes immediate effect on application-acceptance the moment the ordinance is introduced, separate from the formal moratorium ordinance which requires a later approval. This is procedurally distinct from the standard two-reading moratorium pattern (e.g., Cheyenne WY, Denver) where the moratorium takes effect only after second reading. The four exempted in-pipeline projects are: (verified count from coverage, individual project identities still being clarified per local press) — the exemption pattern matches the Cheyenne and Denver framing (no retroactive effect on existing or in-permitting projects). The June 1 final-moratorium vote is now the inflection point — at that point the council either ratifies the pending moratorium into a formal multi-month or yearlong moratorium, or lets the pending status lapse. The 1 dissenting vote on the May 14 pending moratorium signals the council majority is durable. Wholesale-power context: Reno sits in the NV Energy service territory (NV Energy is a Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary), which has been one of the most aggressively-growing utility load-forecasts in the US — the NV Energy 2026 IRP filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada disclosed an expected ~10 GW data-center pipeline for the Reno-Sparks-Tahoe corridor. A Reno moratorium materially affects that forecast. Sources: The Nevada Independent 'Reno hit pause on approving data centers. Now what happens?'; Las Vegas Review-Journal 'Reno City Council pauses AI data centers, first government in Nevada to do so'; KOLO TV 'Reno City Council approves of a pending moratorium for data centers' (May 14); Fox Reno 'Reno moratorium freezes new data center permits, slowing expansion within city limits'; MyNews4 'Reno City Council adopts pending moratorium on new data centers'; Govtech 'Reno, Nev., Is First in State to Pause Data Center Development'; This Is Reno (May, multiple).

Primary source · The Nevada Independent / Las Vegas Review-Journal / KOLO / Fox Reno / MyNews4 / Govtech / This Is Reno ↗