Story by Brian Quinn for Video News Service
The announcement this morning that Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order imposing a moratorium on large-scale data centers drew reactions from local leaders and opponents of the proposal by Stream U.S. Data Centers, which proposes a project on the Western New York Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) property.
Town of Alabama Supervisor Rob Crossen said he was given a copy of the signed executive order at about 11 a.m. The moratorium is for up to a year and applies to data centers which require at least 50 megawatts of energy.
“Upon my very initial review, the executive order appears to expressly exclude local government approvals from its scope,” he said in a text. “That said, our town attorney (Mark Boylan) will complete a thorough review. The town of Alabama will continue to follow all the laws and regulations to the best of our ability.”
Stream proposes a $19.46 billion investment to build three data halls on a total of 90 acres at STAMP, including the North and South campuses. A Fortune 50 company tenant would lease the facility.
Reached by phone earlier this morning, Crossen said he hadn’t had any contact with Stream.
“I haven’t talked to anybody from Stream or missed any calls,” he said.
Representatives from Stream could not be reached for comment this morning. Video News Service made multiple attempts seeking comment.
e3communications President Earl Wells III said on behalf of the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC), “GCEDC legal counsel is reviewing the language from the governor’s executive order, so at this point there is no comment on how it impacts the Stream project.”
Crossen noted the town Planning Board’s next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Alabama Volunteer Fire Department’s fire hall. Chairman Carl Kumpf will set the agenda about a week before, Crossen said.
Upstate United Executive Director Justin Wilcox said in a statement, “While we understand there are some valid concerns around data center development in New York State, many stemming from the state’s self-inflicted power generation shortage, executive action to enforce a moratorium on the development or construction for up to one year sends mixed signals. This will not only prolong uncertainty for companies looking to New York, but ultimately jeopardize potential investment, economic development and skilled jobs.”
While states like Virginia and Texas are far more likely to be approached by possible developers, the fact of the matter is that a statewide moratorium strips away local control and a community’s ability to decide on projects that could be pivotal to their economic growth and job creation, Wilcox said.
“We simply cannot claim to be a state at the forefront of AI innovation if we preemptively turn down opportunities that would help ensure that to be true,” he added.
Upstate describes itself as an advocacy coalition comprising business and trade organizations from across Upstate New York.
Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation welcomes the moratorium, Environmental Consultant to the Tonawanda Seneca Nation Sarah Howard said in a statement.
“We agree that more study is needed to assess the impacts of these facilities on our shared environment – our waters, air, and plant and animal species – and on our utility rates, electrical grid, and quality of life,” she said. “The moratorium pauses permitting for data center project applications, like those of Stream’s proposed data center at STAMP, that have not yet been deemed complete by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). During the pause created by the moratorium, the Department of Public Service and DEC will carry out a General Environmental Impact Study in relation to data centers in the state, in order to ‘assess the potential environmental impacts of the construction and operation of data centers in the state, including energy demand, water use and quality, air quality, disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged communities, and noise levels.’”
Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation urges the GCEDC, the STAMP developer, to use the moratorium pause to conduct its own Environmental Impact Study of the possible impacts of data centers at STAMP, something DEC first called upon GCEDC to do over six months ago, but which GCEDC has thus far refused to do, Howard said in the statement.
“Over the last many months, residents of the GLOW Region and our statewide allies have powerfully and repeatedly called on local and statewide decision-makers – including Governor Hochul – to stop the STAMP data center. We have demanded that they listen and take action in response to our overwhelming opposition,” she said. “This moratorium is an appropriate response to our community’s serious concerns about hyperscale data centers and the impacts they will cause on our neighborhoods, our way of life and cost of living, and our environment. We know who would profit from this data center: Big Tech, private equity, and GCEDC – not Genesee County residents or the Tonawanda Seneca Nation. We will continue to fight to protect our communities, our environment, and a livable future for us all.”
On Monday, the Sierra Club and Tonawanda Seneca Nation filed suit in State Supreme Court challenging a zoning agreement between the town of Alabama and GCEDC to facilitate industrial development at STAMP.
The suit alleges that the zoning agreement, which prevents the town from making changes to its municipal zoning laws and comprehensive plan absent GCEDC approval, violates state law prohibitions against bargaining away legislative discretion and binding future town boards. Because the agreement is void, the suit alleges, zoning rules based on it are void as well. The suit seeks a court declaration that the agreement and associated zoning rules are void, and asks the court to annul the agreement and the zoning framework it creates. If successful, the action would restore the Town Board’s ability to adjust zoning rules at STAMP, as it can in the rest of the town.
“Most communities set their standards of noise mitigation at an A-weighted decibel scale, which was designed to mimic human hearing in a quiet environment. This significantly discounts low-frequency noise in infrasound, which is emitted from all data centers,” she said. “This leaves the traditional gauges for noise and solutions for dampening inadequate to meet the new modern needs. There will never be relief from data center noise.”
Regarding this lawsuit, Crossen said this morning, “I’ve seen the reports in the papers. Nobody’s served the town with any paperwork.”
On Monday, GCEDC President and CEO Mark Masse gave an update on STAMP.
“We’re in the process of finalizing all of our documentation as it relates to reports and studies,” Masse said. “Our acoustic engineer (GHD) completed their study. That was uploaded on Friday. They did take a specific look at infrasound as part of that analysis.”
Masse said a separate consultant did a wind dispersion analysis, which was basically a heat island study. The analysis has been uploaded to the GCEDC website.
“We had an air emissions consultant do an analysis on potential air emissions. That’s been uploaded on our website,” he said. “We continue to work on finalizing the rest of those documents, and they’ll be uploaded as we continue through the process.”