Providence County

Moratoriums and bans

1. May 5, 2026 Smithfield (town): Ban (zoning ordinance). By a 4-1 vote, the Town Council changed the zoning ordinance to define data centers and list them as not permitted in any district. The change took effect 30 days later, on June 4, 2026. The Planning Board voted its recommendation on March 19. In April, Rhode Island Current described the draft as a ban of at least two years followed by review, and a Hopkinton planning memo later noted that Smithfield framed its rule as an interim control; no end date was found in the reports opened. (Town of Smithfield Planning Board, March 19, 2026; WPRI 12, May 6, 2026; Ocean State Media, May 13, 2026; Rhode Island Current, April 13, 2026; Town of Hopkinton, July 29, 2026)

Updates, newest first

1. Oct. 1, 2026 Smithfield Corporate Complex (Hanton City site) · The Zoning Board hearing on the appeal was pushed back to January. (Valley Breeze, Oct. 1, 2026)
2. Sept. 15, 2026 Smithfield Corporate Complex (Hanton City site) · Hanton City Investments and ROK LLC sued the town in Superior Court, asking the court to reverse the incompleteness certificate. (Valley Breeze, Oct. 1, 2026)
3. Sept. 3, 2026 Smithfield Corporate Complex (Hanton City site) · The Zoning Board's September 2 meeting was postponed, moving the hearing on the developers' appeal of the incompleteness finding to October 7. (Valley Breeze, Sept. 3, 2026)
4. June 11, 2026 Smithfield Corporate Complex (Hanton City site) · The town issued a second certificate of incompleteness, saying the application lacked a use variance for the data center. The first certificate came May 29. (Valley Breeze, Oct. 1, 2026)
5. May 5, 2026 Smithfield Corporate Complex (Hanton City site) · The Town Council adopted the data center ban, 4-1. (WPRI 12, May 6, 2026; Ocean State Media, May 13, 2026)
6. May 5, 2026 Smithfield (town): Ban (zoning ordinance) · By a 4-1 vote, the Town Council changed the zoning ordinance to define data centers and list them as not permitted in any district. The change took effect 30 days later, on June 4, 2026. The Planning Board voted its recommendation on March 19. In April, Rhode Island Current described the draft as a ban of at least two years followed by review, and a Hopkinton planning memo later noted that Smithfield framed its rule as an interim control; no end date was found in the reports opened. (Town of Smithfield Planning Board, March 19, 2026; WPRI 12, May 6, 2026; Ocean State Media, May 13, 2026; Rhode Island Current, April 13, 2026; Town of Hopkinton, July 29, 2026)
7. May 4, 2026 Smithfield Corporate Complex (Hanton City site) · Hanton City Investments filed a major land-development application for the complex. (Ocean State Media, May 13, 2026; Valley Breeze, Oct. 1, 2026)
8. May 1, 2026 The Foundry colocation (235 Promenade Street) · Crown Castle reported that its sale of the fiber solutions business to a Zayo entity had closed. (Crown Castle Inc. (SEC EDGAR), May 1, 2026)
9. March 19, 2026 Smithfield Corporate Complex (Hanton City site) · The Planning Board took up a zoning amendment that would define data centers and list them as not permitted in every district, and sent the council a positive recommendation. (Town of Smithfield Planning Board, March 19, 2026; Valley Breeze, Oct. 1, 2026)
10. March 17, 2026 Smithfield Corporate Complex (Hanton City site) · A Revity Energy executive presented the business-park concept, with a data center as anchor tenant, to the Smithfield Town Council. (ecoRI News, April 9, 2026)
11. Dec. 17, 2025 Brown University OIT Data Centers (Providence campus) · A Brown job posting listed 115 Waterman St, 180 George St, 121 South Main St and Friedman Hall as OIT data center facilities. (Brown University (job posting republished on AnitaB.org jobs board), Dec. 17, 2025)
12. Oct. 22, 2025 IGT Rhode Island Lottery data processing center (Cranston) · The Auditor General's FY2025 Lottery audit noted that the Lottery's technology provider rents space in its Cranston building. (Rhode Island Office of the Auditor General, Oct. 22, 2025)
13. Sept. 26, 2025 Prov.net PVD2 (304 Carpenter Street) · The PeeringDB facility record for PVD2 was updated and listed five networks at the site. (PeeringDB, Sept. 26, 2025)
14. Sept. 26, 2025 Prov.net PVD1 (1155 Westminster Street) · The PeeringDB facility record for PVD1 was updated under Provdotnet LLC. (PeeringDB, Sept. 26, 2025)
15. Sept. 26, 2025 The Foundry colocation (235 Promenade Street) · PeeringDB's record for Crown Castle Providence (235 Promenade) was updated. (PeeringDB, Sept. 26, 2025)
16. 2025 IGT Rhode Island Lottery data processing center (Cranston) · IGT's global lottery business took the name Brightstar Lottery; the Rhode Island Lottery contract runs to 2043. (GoLocalProv, 2025)
17. Oct. 18, 2021 Prov.net PVD2 (304 Carpenter Street) · Hurricane Electric announced a new point of presence at Prov.net's PVD2 facility and described its space, power and cooling. (Business Wire (Hurricane Electric press release), Oct. 18, 2021)
18. Feb. 6, 2020 IGT Rhode Island Lottery data processing center (Cranston) · The Rhode Island Lottery's security-audit RFP said IGT's data center shares the Lottery's Cranston headquarters building and holds two central host systems. (Rhode Island Lottery (via RI Division of Purchases), Feb. 6, 2020)
19. May 14, 2012 The Foundry colocation (235 Promenade Street) · Lightower said it had doubled the size of its colocation facility at 235 Promenade (The Foundry). (Telecom Ramblings Newswire (Lightower press release), May 14, 2012)
20. 2009 Brown University OIT Data Centers (Providence campus) · The Brown Daily Herald reported a new research cluster that took up a whole room at the computing center at 180 George St. (The Brown Daily Herald, Nov. 2009)
21. May 14, 2007 Prov.net PVD1 (1155 Westminster Street) · Data Center Knowledge reported that the 40,000 sq ft former factory had hosting tenants in a 10,000 sq ft section while the rest was being converted to data center space. (Data Center Knowledge, May 14, 2007)

Statewide

No data center law (2025-2026): the General Assembly enacted no data center tax break, ratepayer-protection, siting or reporting law. The 2025 tax-break bills were tabled, and none of the 2026 data center bills got out of committee before the regular session ended June 11, 2026. (Rhode Island Current, July 15, 2026; UpriseRI, Sept. 1, 2026; Providence Business News, Aug. 1, 2025) Tax exemption (not enacted): 2025-S 0921 and 2025-H 6097 would have let RI Commerce sign 30- to 50-year agreements exempting qualifying data centers from sales and use tax on equipment and from property tax, for projects investing $200 million in an enterprise or opportunity zone or $400 million elsewhere. Providence Business News reported in August 2025 that the tax-break legislation had been tabled in May. (Rhode Island General Assembly, March 28, 2025; Rhode Island General Assembly, March 14, 2025; Providence Business News, Aug. 1, 2025) Tax exemption (not enacted): 2026-S 2346 and 2026-H 7695 would have let RI Commerce certify data centers for a 30-year sales and use tax exemption on equipment. Senate Commerce heard S 2346 on March 10, 2026 and held it for further study; the Division of Taxation submitted comments on H 7695 to House Finance on May 7, 2026. Neither bill passed. (Rhode Island General Assembly, Jan. 30, 2026; Boston Globe, March 12, 2026; UpriseRI, Sept. 1, 2026; Rhode Island General Assembly, Feb. 11, 2026; Rhode Island General Assembly (House Finance testimony), May 7, 2026; Rhode Island Current, July 15, 2026) Large-load cost rules (not enacted): 2026-H 7331 and the Senate's 2026-S 2776 covered data centers with 50 MW or more of demand. They would have made such sites bear the full cost of grid upgrades built to serve them and required yearly water-use reports to the Department of Environmental Management. H 7331 also let DEM require financial assurance for site restoration and had the Energy Facility Siting Board consult the PUC on cost allocation. Senate Commerce held S 2776 on March 10, 2026, and House Corporations held H 7331 for further study on April 7, 2026. (Rhode Island General Assembly, Jan. 28, 2026; Rhode Island General Assembly Legislative Press Bureau, Jan. 29, 2026; Legiplex (Rhode Island General Assembly bill record), March 4, 2026; Rhode Island Current, April 13, 2026; Boston Globe, March 12, 2026; Rhode Island Current, July 15, 2026) Large-load rate class (not enacted): 2026-H 7270 and 2026-S 2427 would have had the PUC create a separate rate class for facilities of 20 MW or more, with full-cost payment and contracts of at least 10 years. House Corporations heard H 7270 on April 7, 2026 and held it for further study; S 2427 drew testimony in Senate Commerce on March 10, 2026. Neither passed. (Rhode Island House Corporations Committee (testimony), April 7, 2026; Rhode Island Senate Commerce Committee (testimony), March 10, 2026; Rhode Island Current, April 13, 2026; Rhode Island Current, July 15, 2026) Utility tariff: no PUC docket or Rhode Island Energy large-load or data center tariff was found. In March 2026 Senate testimony, Rhode Island Energy agreed in principle that costs caused only by large data centers should not fall on other distribution customers, but asked for more study. The PUC offered comments on S 2776 and H 7331 without backing or opposing either bill. (Rhode Island Senate Commerce Committee (testimony), March 10, 2026; Rhode Island Senate Commerce Committee (testimony), March 10, 2026; Rhode Island House Corporations Committee (testimony), April 7, 2026) Rhode Island data centers →