The debate over data centers is ramping up in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where the City Council is weighing a ban or pause, just as a developer eyes a particular parcel.
After initially punting on an ordinance that would have seemingly shelved data center projects in the city, Holyoke’s City Council on Tuesday will consider a two-year pause on such proposals as well as ban language.
The full council is considering such measures after a committee advanced the ordinance with amendments last week, during a meeting that drew a sizable rally outside City Hall.
Joining ralliers was William Peek, who’s moving to the city from Amherst and found himself holding a sign Thursday, after he says his girlfriend flagged the issue days prior.
“I like the idea of the ban on it, to at least… give the city time to weigh all of its options and put things in place to make sure that, before you know it, Holyoke isn't taken over … by these bigger data centers that find a loophole using the smaller data centers to take a foothold, then use up the power and then - next thing you know - Holyoke's unaffordable, like a lot of other places,” he said.
While many supported the ordinance in question or a larger ban, one of the biggest concerns among protesters was a data center pitch being made by a Boston-based firm.
Chestnut River Power and Infrastructure has been looking into building what the company calls a 20-megawatt “micro facility” that would go by the city’s canal system on Water Street.
It’s not a done deal, but once the reportedly $200 million redevelopment pitch surfaced, residents took to social media and the streets.
Among them Thursday was Remy Burnham, an environmental scientist who studies drinking water. To Burnham, an apparent, emerging link between data centers and PFAS is one of several red flags.
“All of this is so new, there's not a lot of science on the books about it right now, everybody's kind of scrambling to try and publish, but a lot of what's going on is … all these data centers are popping up very suddenly in rural communities, and those rural communities are seeing really elevated levels of PFAS in their drinking water,” Burnham told WAMC.
Chestnut River Co-Managing Director Benjamin Marshall says the concerns are understandable, but, from his point of view, some are either unfounded or easy to solve.
“I just want to be really clear that we're using little to no municipal water - the design uses closed-loop cooling and Holyoke's water supply has been confirmed sufficient for the facility… [and] for a facility 10-times the size,” he said in a phone interview. “We take the watershed incredibly seriously. We want the facts on the record, we don't want any speculation going on.”
Marshall says while his organization is considering other, similar projects elsewhere, Holyoke has much to offer: the vacant, former Hampden Papers complex it’s been looking at on 100 Water Street is sizable and, thanks to the amount of hydropower being produced nearby, the company expects to have its power needs met without a major impact on municipal utilities.
“The project pays its own power costs… there will be a dedicated agreement with Holyoke Gas and Electric - the cost of serving us is carried by us, and not spread onto any residents bills,” he added. “If anything, it's revenue-positive for the city.”
Protesters, though, have doubts. On top of questioning how much of an impact the center will have on electric bills and city power supply, especially in the summer, some locals, like Rochester Institute of Technology student and Holyoke native Rosa Goncalves, say even a closed-loop cooling system brings its own issues.
“A closed-loop system still has to be dumped and recirculated at some point, and if you follow the footprint of it, it puts … significantly more stress on power, because you can't keep circulating the same water for cooling purposes - it's going to be heated up after the first time… you have to cool it before it goes back in,” she said. “And not to mention that also makes the data center overall internal temperature higher, which can cause issues outside of it.”
Marshall emphasized his company is amenable and what they’re proposing is still very much in the planning phase. Adjustments can be made, he says, but the two-year pause the council is considering would be unfortunate. However, he says he would rather see the council take its time than rush anything – and also, to allow the developer to make its case.
“Look, my goal isn't to force anything through; it's to make sure that when Holyoke decides, it's deciding based on accurate information about this specific project, not on fears about projects somewhere else,” he said. “I'm glad to share everything we have, answer any question, and keep the temperature down while we do it.”
As for councilors, those on the Ordinance Committee appeared largely in favor of the two-year pause. Ward 5 Councilor Linda Vacon was the lone “no” vote when the committee advanced the amended ordinance 4-1.
She pointed out the city already has a research-focused data center – the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center - and that it should be considered a case study on how a data center can function properly with minimal impact.
Committee Chair and Council Vice President Meg McGrath-Smith says, ultimately, the council is looking to do its own homework, with the amended ordinance offering a chance to form an ad-hoc committee to study the impact of a commercial data center.
“In the end, what's going to happen here is a committee is going to be formed to study the issue and really give us the research that we need in order to make this decision thoughtfully,” she told WAMC Thursday. “We're going to make sure that we don't allow projects to come in without us having a really clear permitting process that is the right fit for Holyoke, and protects our quality of life here.”
Previously calling the debates and concerns voiced both healthy and understandable, Mayor Joshua Garcia has stressed the potential data center would be comparable to MGHPCC in terms of power usage and size – though there would be a key difference: the potential data center would not be a nonprofit facility like the current one, and it could potentially bring $2 million in annual property tax revenue.
The council meets Tuesday at 7 p.m.
