Data Center Registry

Lex Developments AI Data Center (former Hoku polysilicon site)

Pocatello, Bannock County, Idaho

CancelledContestedAI confirmedRecord updated October 28, 2026

Lex Developments AI Data Center (former Hoku polysilicon site) is a cancelled data center in Pocatello, Idaho (Bannock County), operated by Lex Developments. The public record puts it at 49 acres. It is the subject of active public debate, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition on record.

Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.

Facility record

Cancelled

Operator: Lex Developments
Facility type: Data center, AI use confirmed
Location: Pocatello, Bannock County, ID
Coordinates: 42.8713, -112.4455 (approximate)
Power capacity: Not established from a public source
Land: 49 acres
Investment: Not established from a public source
Announced: Not established from a public source
Utility: Idaho Power
Power source: Grid
Cooling: Closed loop
Water use: Not established from a public source
Jobs: Not established from a public source
Public subsidy: Not established from a public source
Community reception: Contested
Source confidence: Reported by at least one credible outlet or filing

Timeline from the record

Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.

July 2026
Cancelled
Pocatello City Council voted 4-1 to uphold the Hearing Examiner's denial of the conditional use permit, ending the local approval path as of retrieval. Source: KIFI Local News 8
May 2026
Proposed
Lex Developments sought a conditional use permit for an AI data center, reported by BoiseDev as valued at $2.6 billion, at the former Hoku Materials polysilicon plant site (River Park Complex). Source: Idaho State Journal

Opposition and litigation at this site

Yes. Lex Developments AI Data Center (former Hoku polysilicon site) in Pocatello, Bannock County, Idaho is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record. Hearing Examiner Kathleen Lewis denied the conditional use permit after a 2026-05-14 hearing, finding the application did not meet Pocatello Municipal Code 17.02.130(D)'s criteria that the use adequately serve public facilities and not be detrimental to public health, safety, or welfare; critics said the applicant could not answer specifics of the conditions and no tenant was confirmed pending an Idaho Power capacity study.

How the community has taken it

Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: contested means active public debate is on record, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition, without litigation.

Hearing Examiner Kathleen Lewis denied the conditional use permit after a 2026-05-14 hearing, finding the application did not meet Pocatello Municipal Code 17.02.130(D)'s criteria that the use adequately serve public facilities and not be detrimental to public health, safety, or welfare; critics said the applicant could not answer specifics of the conditions and no tenant was confirmed pending an Idaho Power capacity study. Lex Developments (represented by Gus Shultz) appealed; the Pocatello City Council voted 4-1 on 2026-07-16 to uphold the denial. Dissenting Council Member Bates warned the path led to 'exhausting appeals, taking the city to court'; Mayor Dahlquist cited 'the speculative nature' of the proposal, noting 'we don't have an exact company that is committed.' No court filing was confirmed in either source fetched.

Source: KIFI Local News 8

Power and water

In February 2026 Idaho Power sent Lex principal Gus Shultz a letter about the site as 'Project IV West'. It described a 'significant load increase' of more than 100 MW, with the site expected to use 100 MW by 2031. The proposal covered seven 100,000 sq ft buildings. When the city's Water Pollution Control asked about wastewater discharge, Lex did not answer directly.

Notes on the record

BoiseDev (14 May 2026) described the developer's application, later denied, as a $2.6 billion data center, with a headline of "$2 billion+"; it was not a built or committed project. As of October 2026, no investment figure is recorded: BoiseDev's valuation is a press figure that no other readable cited source corroborates. As of October 2026, no MW capacity or secured tenant was stated in the KIFI report. BoiseDev (14 May 2026) gives the site as 49 acres and reports an Idaho Power letter citing a load increase of more than 100 MW, with the site expected to use 100 MW by 2031. As of October 2026, none of the three cited sources names a secured tenant. This pin is a Pocatello city-centroid placeholder (approximate): as of October 2026, the KIFI report gives a street address for the former Hoku polysilicon site (1800 River Park Way), but neither BoiseDev nor KIFI gave parcel boundaries or coordinates, and OpenStreetMap has no feature for it. It is NOT a claim about where on the Hoku parcel the proposal sat, and it is not co-located with the FBI Grey Wolf Data Center (tracked separately as of September 2026), whose pin was corrected to its own OSM building POI 4.0 km north.

What the record does not establish, and the document that would

In every fight on our tracker the decisive fact came out of a public records request. These are the requests for this site.

Power capacity in megawatts
Tax abatements or other public subsidy
Permanent jobs promised

Which document closes each gap

Power capacity in megawatts: The utility's large load service agreement, the interconnection request in the grid operator's queue, or the electrical site plan in the permit file.
Tax abatements or other public subsidy: The abatement, PILOT, or development agreement approved by the county, city, or development authority, and the state's data center sales tax exemption certificate if one was issued.
Permanent jobs promised: The economic development application or incentive agreement, which usually states a job commitment and a clawback.

Have one of these documents? Send it to us and we will add it to the record with attribution.

Other sites within 30 miles

Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.

FBI Grey Wolf Data Center · Pocatello · Federal Bureau of Investigation (U.S. Department of Justice)2 mi · Operating
GeoBitmine Bingham County Facility · Aberdeen · GeoBitmine21 mi · Proposed · 6 MW

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Questions people ask about this site

Is there opposition to the Lex Developments AI Data Center (former Hoku polysilicon site) in Pocatello?

Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Lex Developments AI Data Center (former Hoku polysilicon site)?

The reception note on this record refers to a court proceeding. Read it in full under opposition and litigation above, and check the sources at the foot of the page for the filing itself.

How much water does Lex Developments AI Data Center (former Hoku polysilicon site) use?

No water withdrawal figure for Lex Developments AI Data Center (former Hoku polysilicon site) is on record here. Cooling is recorded as closed_loop, which is the strongest available clue: closed loop and air cooled plant draw far less than evaporative cooling. We leave the number blank rather than estimate one.

Who operates Lex Developments AI Data Center (former Hoku polysilicon site), and how big is it?

Lex Developments is the operator on record. No capacity figure is on record for this site. The site is recorded at 49 acres.

How to cite this page

SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Lex Developments AI Data Center (former Hoku polysilicon site)," updated October 28, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/lex-developments-pocatello-id.

Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.34.1 (October 4, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/lex-developments-pocatello-id, retrieved October 29, 2026.

Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.

Sources for this record

As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.

1.Pocatello hearing examiner denies Hoku site data center permit but Lex Developments vows return · Idaho State Journal · retrieved September 12, 2026
2.Pocatello City Council Upholds Hearing Examiner's Decision, says "no" to Proposed AI Data Center · KIFI Local News 8 · retrieved September 21, 2026
3.Another large Idaho data center proposed, valued at $2 billion+ (archived) · BoiseDev (via Internet Archive) · retrieved October 21, 2026

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