GENESEE COUNTY/Alabama/Community registers concerns on data centers project at STAMP

Story and photos by Brian Quinn

Most of the community members who came up to the podium Thursday evening were there to share their opposition to the proposed $19.46 billion proposal by STREAM U.S. Data Centers to build three data centers in Alabama. However, the proposal for the Western New York Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) site had support at the public hearing from a couple of trades union representatives.

Two data center buildings would be on the 60-acre North Campus and one on the 30-acre South Campus, on 2.2 million square feet total.

Before the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) began taking public comments, President and CEO Mark Masse responded to a non-profit group’s report, issued this week, on the financial incentives STREAM is seeking as part of the project.

Genesee County Economic Development Center President and CEO Mark Masse responds to a report from Applied Economics Clinic.

GCEDC comments on Applied Economics Clinic report

Masse gave the GCEDC’s response to a report this week from the non-profit Applied Economics Clinic. On behalf of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and Sierra Club Niagara Group, Applied Economics had reviewed STREAM’s application for financial incentives for the proposed project and issued a report.

Masse said he hoped speakers would find his comments useful as they spoke during the hearing, which took place at the Alabama fire hall.

“The report stated that STREAM did not provide any supporting materials for its cost-benefit analysis, which fails to meet the standards expected in public decision-making,” he said. “To be clear, the GCEDC is the one who prepared the cost-benefit analysis, not STREAM. This is a standard analysis we’ve done for every single project we’ve received, for many years.”

To prepare the analysis, the GCEDC has a software program developed by the MRB Group that does the calculations. Other industrial development agencies that evaluate applications for financial incentives across the state have used the program.

“The report also states that the proposed facilities will consume many times the electrical generation capacity currently operating in Genesee County,” Masse said. “This is both irrelevant and inaccurate. It’s irrelevant because STAMP’s been awarded and allocated 600 megawatts of power from the NYISO (New York Independent System Operator). The facility will be powered entirely from the Robert Moses hydropower facility in Niagara County, New York. It’s inaccurate in that there are currently 867 megawatts of solar projects that are generating or currently in construction in Genesee County. There’s also a 133-megawatt project within three miles of the STAMP site, which would bring Genesee County generation to approximately one gigawatt.”

The Applied Economics report says costs for the STREAM project keep changing, as if that indicates inaccurate analysis, Masse said.

“To clarify, STREAM has submitted three different applications as the project evolved. Each time the project changes, the GCEDC staff recalculates the cost-benefit analysis and then holds a public hearing based on the revised application,” he said. “It is not at all uncommon for projects to change their investment or revise the project as they move through the application process.”

The report also says STREAM has requested sales tax and mortgage tax abatements, which together are worth 25 times more than the benefits the project would provide through payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) and host benefit agreements.

“The local sales tax and mortgage tax abatements for the project are currently estimated at approximately $700 million, while the total host PILOT payments are estimated at $285 million. That is only two to three times, not 25,” Masse said. “It also fails to account for regular tax payments the project would be required to make for the life of the project once the PILOT agreement and host community agreements end, nor the significant sales tax revenue and wages for construction and operation roles that would be generated by the project.”

Public comments

Patrick Mahoney of Buffalo was the first of many speakers opposed to the proposed data centers at STAMP.

“AI (artificial intelligence) is a reality of our world. We need to ask, what would its long-term effects be on our communities and humanity,” he said. “This is a historic moment – not only for Genesee County, but the state, this country and the world. The arguments against the STAMP project are extremely strong – massive use of energy amidst the catastrophe of climate change, air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, harm to wetlands, nature preserves, harm to agriculture and indigenous people and the rising utility costs for this community.”

There need to be regulations for this new technology, Mahoney said.

“There needs to be a moratorium regarding data centers. This STAMP project should be stopped. Data centers should be beneficial to all Americans, including the people of Genesee County and the Tonawanda Seneca Nation,” he said. AI must proceed without harm to communities and the planet, and not just be a benefit to a handful of billionaires, like Jeffrey Epstein associate and Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan. Apollo acquired STREAM in 2025.

Rafael Garcia, business agent for Laborers Local 435 of Rochester, said he was there not as a construction worker, but as someone who believes in building for the future.

“I understand the concerns in this room. Change always brings uncertainty. It can feel disruptive. It can feel like something is being decided for you instead of with you,” Garcia said. “But I ask you to look at what’s being offered here. This project is more than just steel, concrete, wires in the ground. It’s opportunity – for the trades, yes, but beyond that, for this entire community.”

Construction projects like this bring immediate economic impact, Garcia said.

“Hundreds of workers in an area means local gas stations see more customers. Local diners, grocery stores and smoke businesses see more traffic. That’s just not theory, that’s reality,” he said.

Development should never come at the cost of respect and growth should not mean exclusion, Garcia said.

“If this project moves forward, it must include open communication, fairness and a seat at the table for everyone affected,” he said. “The strongest communities are ones that don’t avoid change. They’re the ones that shape it together. We can let fear of change stop us or we can take control of it, guide it and make sure it works for all of us. This project has a chance to invest in people and opportunity, and in the future of Oakfield – not just for today, but for the next generation watching what we choose to do right now.”

As Garcia finished his remarks, someone in the audience asked, “Who wrote that for you?”

Liz Thompson of Batavia read from a letter by Seth Green Chapter of Trout Unlimited President Aaron DeRuyter. DeRuyter wrote that Trout Unlimited recognizes that the rapid expansion of data centers poses growing risk to cold water ecosystems.

“The buildout and operation of these facilities can strain freshwater resources, increase thermal and hydrologic stress on rivers and aquifers, and drive land conversion that fragments habitats and degrades the health of our waterways,” Thompson read. “Siting this 2.2 million square foot mega data center there (at STAMP) will cause serious detrimental affects on the adjacent wetlands, the Oak Orchard River Watershed and, ultimately, Lake Ontario. These waters support substantial populations of rainbow and brown trout, ‘king’ salmon, coho salmon, Atlantic salmon, bass and many other freshwater species. Hundreds of our members have fished this world-class resource for decades.”

The proposed project also poses danger to the fresh, cold water of the watershed through cooling water withdrawal, groundwater contamination due to diesel fuel leaks, and wetland and tributary disruption from building a discharge pipeline to the Oak Orchard River and the water used daily by the utility company to generate the electricity needed to power the data center, Thompson read.

“Where will this water come from? Where will it go? The more water used by industry, the less water for fish,” she read.

Dan Frankowski of Buffalo, business representative for U.A. Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 22, spoke in favor of the project.

Dan Frankowski of Buffalo, business representative for U.A. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 22, said while he respects the opinions and reasoning behind the opposition to the project, he supports the proposal.

“We stand behind the project moving forward, as it will create hundreds-plus construction jobs for multiple years to come for our members alone, not to mention other construction trades involved,” he said of the union. “Ancillary work that would come as a result of this project, infrastructure or otherwise, would also continue to keep my members working, creating jobs for members who may live right here in this community.

The site has been set up for projects like the STREAM project, but has been sitting, mostly idle, for far too long, Frankowski said.

“It’s time the town utilized it for its intended purpose – to create a chance for revenue and jobs,” he said.

Karen Miconi of Elba talked, in part, about the need for transparency when she spoke at Thursday night’s public hearing.

Karen Miconi of Elba, asked a number of questions, such as when the 500 megawatts of power was promised to the data centers project. She also asked about carbon dioxide emissions and who did the environmental impact study.

“Was it you, the GCEDC? You’re not qualified. Why wasn’t it the DEC (State Department of Environmental Conservation),” she said.

“I think you need to promise that this data center will not ever expand, that you will not ever drill wells into our aquifers to take water that you might be short on, being that you were promised 200,000 gallons. By who were you promised the 200,000 gallons of water? Might I ask?”

Miconi also noted STREAM is investing $19.46 billion in the project.

“What are their incentives? It’s a total disruption of Mother Nature. It’s a total disruption of our nesting eagles in the Iroquois (National Wildlife Refuge), our federally protected wetlands, our federally protected trout streams,” she said.

The people living on the Tonawanda Seneca Nation Reservation have wells, not municipal water, Miconi said.

“I know you don’t care. I know it’s all about the money,” she said to the GCEDC. “Now, they’re coming here and they’re going to deplete our water supply, which we need to survive on earth – our water supply, which we need for our animals, for our humans and for our wetlands, for our wildlife.”

Terry Abrams, a Tonawanda Seneca Nation Bear Clan member, said he’s also opposed to putting data centers at the site on Crosby Road. He said he agrees that there’s a lot of misinformation about the project, but that the misinformation is coming from the GCEDC side, not the community.

“The $1.4 billion in incentives, I don’t see how any PILOT payment, anything else – any job creation, any gifts that are given to the school district, to the communities, can possibly measure up to that incentive,” he said. “I just don’t think it can happen. You can say, ‘Well, once the PILOT (payments) end, they will continue, then they’ll pay more taxes.’ We all know what really happens. Once those tax incentives end, these companies will uproot and move away and find some other community …”

The true cost of the STREAM project is not on the balance sheet, Abrams said. They are the social, environmental and spiritual costs.

“Those cannot be measured. Those do not fit neatly on an Excel spreadsheet,” he said. “Those are the costs that we are going to pay.”

Dr. Liz Tinelli, a Rochester native, said she learned about the data center project on Monday.

“Had I known, I would have been at the table sooner. There has been a lot to review in just a few days,” she said. Tinelli said she reviewed STREAM’s technical submissions, researched environmental law and learned about the GCEDC and its mission to provide a high-quality life for residents and their families.

“Reading the 200-page transcript from March 19 (the previous GCEDC public hearing), one thing is obvious. The residents of this county – the people referenced in that very mission statement – are overwhelmingly against this project,” she said.

There are multiple inconsistencies in what STREAM has submitted, Tinelli said.

“The number of generators vary between six and 12, chillers between 180 and 198 … Fact – New York State DEC identified 20 significant deficiencies in the stormwater plans,” she said. “Fact – the acoustics technical summary only includes a-weighted decibels and excludes c-weighted decibels. The report itself admits this might not give a valid measure. Fact – the environmental review being relied on to approve this project was conducted in 2012 for a manufacturing park, not a hyperscale data center.”

New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requires state agencies to protect disadvantaged communities from disproportionate environmental burdens. The GCEDC Board of Directors is bound by that law, Tinelli said.

Dr. Neal Keating of Brockport read a statement from the Orleans County Department of Tourism. The statement said, in part, that the Oak Orchard River and the receiving waters of Lake Ontario are a world-class, year-round, fishing destination. A 2017 DEC study, visitors coming to fish in Orleans County waters had an annual impact of nearly $28 million. Applying a standard inflationary rate, that value would be near $34 million in 2024, he read.

“The downstream waters of Lake Ontario at Point Breeze, N.Y., are enjoyed by thousands of recreational boaters and trolling anglers alike,” Keating read. “The good health and non-impacted, clean water of the Oak Orchard River is vitally important to the sport fishery and boating interests, which support the tourism economy for Orleans County.

“A responsible siting and development of the STAMP site and future tenant buildout should include reasonable water intake and use, with a treatment, and discharge of wastewater done onsite or within originating county boundaries, not to include the Oak Orchard River,” Keating read in the statement.

Caitlin Love Crowell, a staff member of Partnership for the Public Good (PPG) in Buffalo, said PPG is a community think tank and public advocacy organization.

Crowell recalled that Facebook’s founding motto was “Move fast and break things.”

“That might be an exciting and dynamic way to run a company, but it’s lousy advice for running a community or a neighborhood or a town,” she said. “What, exactly, are these companies breaking? Their promises, for one; our cultural heritage; our local and state economies; our energy supplies; our clean water supplies; and even the land that we live on.”

A bill has been introduced in the United States Senate to impose a moratorium on the construction of new data centers until legislation is enacted that safeguards the public from the dangers of artificial intelligence.

“That we are allowing and encouraging developments against which we need safeguards should give us pause. In terms of taxation structure, environmental protection and economic planning, our region is not prepared to deal wisely with these proposed behemoths,” she said. “It certainly does not help when these companies are singularly unwilling to be transparent. That is why we are seeing communities across the country and around the world rise up to protest this misuse of our public goods and money.

“PPG encourages you to say ‘No’ to this incentive to say ‘No to STREAM development,” Crowell told the GCEDC.

Victoria Guite, a Tonawanda Seneca Nation Turtle Clan member, asked who is telling the GCEDC that residents want the data centers project when residents don’t.

“I live on the reservation on Sand Hill Road. I grew up there and I’ve got the poison oak scars to prove it,” she said. “When I have children, I’m going to bear my children on that land. That’s their birthright. It’s not a joke. It’s not some financial incentive. That’s my home. That’s my spirit.”

Guite noted she is running for the State Senate in the 57th District, a seat currently held by George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay. The New York State Board of Elections lists her as filing as a Democratic and Working Families candidate under “primary election.” Borrello is listed by the Board of Elections as a Republican and Conservative candidate under “primary election.”

“I have had to do so much talking to people. You know what people don’t do – agree on much,” she said. “You know what they do agree on. This being a ‘No. We don’t want this.'”

GCEDC Executive Vice President of Business & Workforce Development Chris Suozzi made a presentation on the STAMP site and the STREAM Data Centers project. 

Sales tax exemption for STREAM

Early in the public hearing, GCEDC Executive Vice President of Business & Workforce Development Chris Suozzi gave a presentation on STAMP and the STREAM project. said on the state level, the internet data center exemption exists. As to whether an internet data center is part of the STREAM project, a gray area exists, he said.

“The sales tax exemption is asked by us because that is one of our tools in our tool box,” he said. Suozzi said the $1.431 billion sales tax abatement STREAM requests is a number, based on servers STREAM is going to purchase.

“If you’re going to Walmart and buying a computer, there’s a piece of paper that says you’re exempt from sales tax,” he said as an example. “At that point, that exemption happens.”

Masse said the exemption means STREAM doesn’t pay the $1.431 million. Half of that is state sales tax and the other half is local. It’s not cash given to the company, Suozzi said.

“What Chris is talking about under New York State law and the Department of Taxation and Finance, they made that exempt,” Masse said.

Masse went on to say that manufacturing equipment is not subject to sales tax. If a company buys a piece of manufacturing equipment, they don’t have to pay sales tax under tax law.

“What the state did was they added an item, under exemptions, for servers used in an internet data center,” he said. “When Chris says it’s a gray area, that means the company could go to the Department of Taxation and Finance and say, ‘We don’t think we should have to pay sales tax. We think we fall under that sales tax exemption. The company, instead, is requesting that sales tax exemption as part of this, which means that they just don’t pay the sales tax when they acquire the servers.”