Renewable Energy and Geothermal Projects in Sulfuric/Geothermal Areas
Response:
Subject: Official Information Request -Renewable energy and geothermal projects in sulfuric/geothermal areas
I refer to your Official Information request of 22 October 2026, for information regarding Renewable energy and geothermal projects in sulfuric/geothermal areas.
Question:
Any resource-consent, building-consent, land-use-consent, subdivision, earthworks, stormwater, access, water-supply, wastewater, power-infrastructure, or pre-application enquiries, applications, plans, assessments, reports, decisions, or associated correspondence relating to a proposed:
- data centre or datacentre;
- hyperscale data centre;
- cloud-computing, AI-computing, server-farm, digital-infrastructure, or technology-campus facility;
- major industrial or commercial development involving a significant or unusual electricity demand; or
- new substation, switching station, high-voltage connection, transmission connection, distribution connection, or other electricity-network infrastructure associated with such a facility.
Answer:
No.
Question:
Any correspondence, emails, meeting notes, file notes, presentations, reports, internal briefings, GIS or property searches, or records of discussions referring to the following terms in connection with land in the locality described above:
- “data centre” or “datacentre”;
- “hyperscale”;
- “cloud”;
- “AI” or “artificial intelligence”;
- “server farm”;
- “digital infrastructure”;
- “technology campus”;-“large load”, “high load”, “high electricity demand”, “major electricity user”, or “electricity connection”;
- “substation”, “switchyard”, “grid connection”, “transmission connection”, or “distribution connection”.
Answer:
No.
Question:
Any records of communications, enquiries, meetings, briefings, or advice exchanged with any landowner, developer, agent, consultant, electricity-network operator, Powerco, Transpower, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Kānoa, Invest New Zealand, MBIE, or another public body regarding a development of the type described above.
Answer:
No.
Question:
The address, legal description, application number, consent number, or other property identifier for any land in the stated locality to which a responsive record relates. If Council considers that addresses or legal descriptions should be withheld, please provide the information in a form that preserves the substantive location information where possible—for example, a general locality, cadastral plan reference, map with appropriate redactions, or application/consent reference number.
Answer:
No.
Question:
Any Council assessment, advice, modelling, reports, or correspondence concerning the availability, capacity, upgrade requirements, or effects of:
- electricity supply or electricity-network infrastructure;
- water supply;
- wastewater;
- stormwater;
- roads, traffic, access, or heavy-vehicle movements;
- earthworks;
- noise;
- landscape or visual effects; or
- ecological, wetland, waterway, or other environmental effects;
Answer:
No.
Question:
If Council holds no information responsive to items 1–5 for the locality described above, please advise whether it holds any records, from 1 January 2022 to the date of your response, relating to a proposed data centre, hyperscale data centre, AI-computing facility, cloud-computing facility, server farm, digital-infrastructure facility, technology campus, or other unusually high-electricity-demand development elsewhere in the Rotorua Lakes District.
Answer:
No.
Therefore due to the responses for all 6 questions being No, Council refuses your request under section 17(e) of the LGOIMA ‘ that the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist.’
