Holyoke City Council debates oversight for proposed data center

A proposal for a new data center in Holyoke is floating around. TWNC News Reporter Claire Overton joins us live in studio with how some people say it could benefit the city, but how others are opposing it. It's still in the early stages of planning, but the Holyoke City Council just got word of all this last night and one councilor told us the meeting got heated at one point. We don't want to get rid of a useful and important industry. We just don't want to have it harm our people. A proposed $200 million dollar data center is drawing attention in Holyoke. For City Councilor Mimi Panich, there are more questions than answers. How big is this center? What are its power demands? What risks does it bring? How do we permit these? The city council voting Tuesday night on a proposal to enact a zoning ban on new data centers. Panich hopes will allow them more time to create oversight legislation. I'm not concerned as long as we can regulate them in such a way that we know that the very real harms that communities have experienced are not going to be a result of anything that comes to Holyoke. SR Commercial ensuring Holyoke residents know they have done their due diligence when it comes to this data center, making sure that it is positive for the city. This would be one small micro data center. We are not talking about the gigawatt centers that you see and all the issues that are coming up in articles in other states. That is not what is being done here. Zaisha Roberts, a senior agent with SR Commercial and also a lifelong Holyoke resident, said they have already spoken with Holyoke Waterworks and Holyoke Gas and Electric and have learned this data center would not drain any resources. Currently right now we know that there is a minimum of about 20 megawatts sitting on our infrastructure, our substation that is not being utilized right now. So this would help stabilize our rates and help it run more efficiently. Through the project, the center would pay a minimum of 2 to 3 million dollars in taxes, all for the city's benefit. There is currently no timeline right now for what comes next. But Panitch hopes the city will prevent the project from moving forward until they can create a legal structure. Working for you, Claire Overton, 22 News.