Idaho local moratoria
Every local infrastructure moratorium in the inventory for Idaho, current through September 23, 2026.
3 instruments — 2 in force, 0 pending, 1 past.
State policy is tracked separately: 9 actions (9 bills) in state_legislation.csv. These are not included in the local count above.
| Jurisdiction | Type | Enacted | Sectors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bannock County | County | 2026-07-30 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Elmore County | County | 2026-07-02 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Kootenai County | County | 2025-03-11 | data center | ⚪ Replaced |
Detailed entries
Bannock County
- Type: County
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-07-30 (Board of County Commissioners signed the emergency moratorium ordinance)
- Normalized date:
2026-07-30(exact) - Duration: 180 days from adoption (2026-07-30 to 2027-01-26)
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
id-bannock-county-2026 - Legal basis: Emergency moratorium ordinance, Instrument # 22609310, adopted under Idaho Code Section 67-6523 by the Bannock County Board of Commissioners (Jeff Hough, Chairman; Ernie Moser and Ken Bullock, Commissioners); signed 2026-07-30.
- What prompted it: Board found an imminent peril to public health, safety, and welfare from continued unregulated siting of data centers, citing water quality, environmental impact, viewsheds, decommissioning bonds, electrical grid impact, and aquifer impacts; adopted alongside an April 13, 2026 statewide drought emergency declaration by the Idaho Department of Water Resources; gives county time to draft a standalone data center ordinance (separate from an ongoing, years-long Land Use and Development Ordinance rewrite that did not originally address data centers).
- Affected projects: No specific project named as pending in unincorporated county jurisdiction at adoption; the moratorium does not affect the separately-pending, city-jurisdiction Lex Developments/Hoku-site data center proposal in Pocatello.
- Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. Moratorium on the receipt, processing, and approval of data center permit applications in unincorporated Bannock County, effective 2026-07-30 through 2027-01-26. Does not apply to any permit already issued or requested before adoption, and does not apply within city limits (including Pocatello, where a separate, contested $2.6 billion Lex Developments data center proposal for the former Hoku polysilicon plant site is working through the city's own permitting/appeal process). Commissioner Jeff Hough is separately convening a regional work group with Power, Oneida, Franklin, and Caribou counties to draft model data-center ordinances for neighboring jurisdictions, expected to begin public hearings around January 2027.
- Outcome: Board of Commissioners adopted a 180-day emergency moratorium on data center permits in unincorporated Bannock County while staff drafts a standalone data center ordinance.
Elmore County
- Type: County
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-07-02 (Board of County Commissioners regular meeting; Resolution No. 952-26 adopted unanimously, Corbus/Rodgers/Hofer all AYE)
- Normalized date:
2026-07-02(exact) - Duration: 182 days from adoption (2026-07-02 to 2026-12-31)
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
id-elmore-county-2026 - Legal basis: Resolution No. 952-26, "Emergency Moratorium on the Issuance of Permits for Data Center Development within [unincorporated] Elmore County," adopted by the Elmore County Board of Commissioners on 2026-07-02.
- What prompted it: Commissioners cited concerns over water use, noise, land-use impacts, and the absence of existing county regulation specific to data centers.
- Affected projects: None named in captured county minutes or press coverage.
- Detailed status: Active as of 2026-09-23. Emergency moratorium on the issuance of permits for data center development in unincorporated Elmore County, adopted unanimously 2026-07-02, running 182 days to approximately 2026-12-31.
- Outcome: Board of County Commissioners unanimously adopted Resolution No. 952-26, a 182-day emergency moratorium on data center development permits in unincorporated Elmore County.
Kootenai County
- Type: County
- Status: ⚪ Replaced
- Date enacted: 2025-03-11, retroactive to 2025-02-27
- Normalized date:
2025-03-11(exact) - Duration: 182 days from 2025-03-11 adoption (nominal expiration 2025-09-09), retroactive to 2025-02-27. Resolution 2025-23 itself states the term as '182 days following adoption,' which places the adoption date (March 11) as day zero and the moratorium's last day as day 182 after that (September 9, 2025) -- consistent with the already-recorded computed_expiry. Replaced by Ordinance 620, noticed 2025-10-07.
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
id-kootenai-county-2025 - Legal basis: Resolution 2025-23, "Emergency Moratorium - Data Centers"
- What prompted it: Developer interest in unincorporated county parcels over the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer; county findings cited water quantity and quality, electricity demand, air pollution, building size, noise, parking, and traffic circulation.
- Affected projects: No named project or MW total identified in captured county records. County records and press coverage state only that developers had made inquiries.
- Detailed status: Expired and replaced
- Outcome: Ordinance 620, noticed 2025-10-07, amended county code to prohibit data centers in the Commercial zone and allow them in Light Industrial and Industrial zones only with a conditional use permit. The replacement ordinance also added data-center standards, application requirements, and a county code definition. Spokane Public Radio reported that commissioners also directed staff toward a possible outright ban and that the adopted rules barred data centers over the aquifer.
Source: moratorium_inventory.csv · Methodology · Codebook.