Construction Started but Power Line Excavation Review Rejected... Different Permits by Local Governments [Data Center Power Regulation]

Bucheon Samjeong-dong DC October Road Management Review Rejected
Construction Begins... Power Supply Difficult if Review Not Passed
City Sets Its Own Permit Procedures Due to Administrative Burden

In addition to power system evaluations, there are different procedures for each local government that hinder data center construction. To apply to local governments, permits and road reviews must be obtained, but the current law does not specify the order of these procedures. The project promoters building data centers apply to local governments based on their 'own judgment.' However, there are cases where road reviews are rejected during the construction process, causing the project to be stuck. When problems arose, Bucheon City in Gyeonggi Province even established its own permit procedures.

Data center image drawn by ChatGPT / Photo by ChatGPT

According to Bucheon City on the 9th, the KT Cloud Data Center being built in Samjeong-dong, Ojeong-gu, Bucheon City, was rejected at the Bucheon City Road Management Review at the end of October. This is the third time this year. A Bucheon City official said, "Excavation is necessary to secure the route for power supply, but the submission had insufficient parts, so it was rejected."

It is a difficult situation for the project owner who has already constructed the building. The data center received a building permit from Bucheon City in July 2022 and began construction in April this year. For operating the data center, the supply of high-voltage power is essential, but the Building Act does not specify whether the road management review must precede the building permit.

Kim Yerim, a representative lawyer at Law Firm Simmok, said, "The order of the two procedures is not fixed, but from an interpretive standpoint, it is correct to receive the road management review first," adding, "Conditional building permits can also be issued, so it is hard to consider it illegal." A Bucheon City official also said, "Road management review for building permits is not mandatory under the Building Act," and added, "Since building permits and road management reviews are separated, the building permit was obtained first, and during that time, complaints arose, resulting in failure to pass the review."

Local governments have adjusted their processes independently to reduce the burden of project delays. Bucheon City changed its policy from October 31 last year to require road management reviews before building permits for data centers when high-voltage power could cause collective complaints for public interest reasons. According to the Enforcement Rules of the Electric Utility Act, high voltage refers to voltages exceeding 7,000 volts.

Since reviews are conducted quarterly, the Samjeong-dong data center can only undergo re-review in February or March next year. The project owner is expected to pass the review only after alleviating residents' concerns about route designation, depth, and other issues arising from the road management review. A city official said, "To pass the re-review, there must be improvements addressing the reasons for the previous rejection." A representative from the underground line construction team of the project owner said, "We plan to submit a project plan minimizing the route by supplementing the reasons for rejection," adding, "Since a consultation process with residents is necessary, we also plan to hold explanatory meetings." However, they added, "The timing has not yet been decided."