The Boston-based developer that wanted to build a data center in Holyoke, Mass., says the company has no plans to fight the city.
That’s following Tuesday's city council vote to ban all future data centers in Holyoke, exempting the one existing high-speed computing center already operating in the city.
Critics say data centers use massive amounts of power and water, with harmful effects on communities.
But Benjamin Marshall, of Chestnut River Power and Infrastructure, said his company planned carefully around Holyoke’s infrastructure to minimize the environmental impact.
“A lot of fear was about the giant hyperscale campuses elsewhere," he said, "and this was a small 20 megawatt re-use of a vacant mill using Holyoke's clean hydropower, designed to pay its own way. We didn't get enough chance to show that distinction. And that's a lesson for us.”
The Holyoke ban passed 9 to 4 through a zoning ordinance amendment.
Some Holyoke councilors had wanted a temporary moratorium on data centers instead of an outright ban.
City council president Tessa R. Murphy-Romboletti wrote in a Facebook post before the vote: "My position has never been that Holyoke should welcome massive data centers without restrictions. My position has always been that we should take the time to understand the issue, gather public input, and create policies that will stand the test of time."
Westfield is considering its own data center moratorium, with a second public hearing scheduled for Thursday.
“I'm excited for the residents in Holyoke for them to be able to take a breath of relief," said Kristen Mello, a Westfield city councilor and environmental activist who opposes a data center in her city. But she said Westfield's legal department told her that city is not allowed to go beyond a moratorium. "I'm not aware of an avenue for us to be able to make a full out ban or I may have recommended it.”
Now that Holyoke is off the table, Benjamin Marshall said Chestnut River will continue to look for other former manufacturing hubs where zoning and infrastructure allows for data centers, and where there are already many vacant buildings.
"Usually these are in the areas of the country that really need help with their tax base," Marshall said. "Then we try to go to those locations and pull all the pieces together to make the right-sized data center for the community.”
