Rhode Island Data Center Investment Tracker

The town council voted unanimously on 11 August 2026 to prohibit data centers and battery energy storage systems, the second municipal data center ban in Rhode Island and the first ban on battery energy storage projects. No data center had been proposed in the town; officials described the ordinance as preventative.

The Cumberland Town Council voted 6-1 on Wednesday 16 September 2026 to adopt Ordinance 26-22, listing data centers as a prohibited use under the town zoning ordinance. Three residents spoke at the public hearing, all in favor. The sponsor cited electricity prices and water use and another Rhode Island town's experience with a data center proposal.

The Lincoln Town Council unanimously approved a zoning amendment on 18 August 2026 that bans data centers throughout the town. The ordinance lists data centers as a prohibited use in every zoning district. A councilor said the town wanted to act before a developer submitted a proposal, citing limited land, water supply and utility resources, and councilors said the restriction could be reconsidered later.

Revity Energy proposed a business park including a data center at Hanton City in March 2026. After public opposition, Smithfield's planning board and town council voted to ban such development in early May 2026, the first municipal data center ban in Rhode Island. Single-sourced from a secondary account in the Charlestown reporting; the Smithfield record has not been confirmed from a Smithfield source. Developers Hanton City Investments LLC and ROK LLC are appealing the town administrative officer's 11 June 2026 decision that their major land development application for the Smithfield Corporate Complex at 364 George Washington Highway was incomplete. The application was filed a day before the Town Council adopted a data center ban. The Zoning Board of Review hearing on the appeal, postponed from 2 September 2026, was rescheduled for 7 October 2026, according to a Town Council member. The Smithfield record is now confirmed from local sources: the Town Council adopted the zoning amendment listing data centers as not permitted in every district 4-1 on 5 May 2026, effective 4 June 2026, and described it as a precautionary interim control. Hanton City Investments LLC and ROK LLC say they filed a substantially complete application on 4 May 2026; the town issued certificates of incompleteness on 29 May and 11 June 2026. The developers have filed two Superior Court lawsuits, one submitted 15 September 2026, arguing that the ban is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan, amounts to an unlawful moratorium, and that the application was wrongly found incomplete. The town says it will defend the ban. The zoning board appeal remains set for 7 October 2026. The Zoning Board of Review did not hear the developer's appeal of the town planner's incomplete-application ruling on 7 October 2026; the agenda moved it to January 2027, and the developer's counsel said the postponement was due to two pending lawsuits against the town.

The town council adopted a one-year moratorium blocking all data centers on 27 July 2026 by voice vote, while the planning board drafts zoning rules. The town manager said data centers were not covered by the existing ordinance.