By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
Saline County Commissioner Joe Hay had a chance to sit down with Jerry Hinrikus and Chris Cadle of KINA Coffee Talk on Friday morning, to discuss the three-year moratorium (halt) on data centers and/or energy facilities being established.
During the conversation, Hay said he and the commissioners passed the halt in order to learn what resources a specific area would need before these facilities are established.
This comes after the commissioner's denial of a proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to be established within county limits, after a 4-1 supermajority vote back on January 2026.
Read more about that decision here.
According to Hay, the moratorium that was placed is to halt any applications of a data center or energy facility to come in, before regulations are made clear.
"When we put this moratorium on, it was not for people to think Saline County is not open for business," said Hay. "As a Commissioner or member of a the Planning Commission, this will help us know what we are looking at. We are not just jumping into something and saying we are going to approve this battery plant or data center and then all of sudden we say, oh gosh I didn't we were going to use all that water."
He further added the three year moratorium includes the following:
- One year= Data center.
- One year= Nuclear power facilities.
- One year= Hydrogen-based energy facilities.