NORTHAMPTON — As data centers dominate the headlines across the country, including locally, the city of Northampton is looking to have its own discussions around the polarizing issue.
At its meeting on Aug. 20, the City Council considered forming a joint mayoral/City Council committee to study zoning and regulations about data centers.
“I feel like we need to be proactive,” said Ward 3 City Councilor Laurie Loisel, who presented the idea to the full body. “I don’t know if anything’s coming, if anything’s been proposed. I don’t think so, but I think we should look at it before that happens to see what our options are.”
The preliminary discussions in Northampton come at a time when multiple Western Mass. communities are reckoning with the data center boom, including the centers’ influence on electric bills, water usage and the environment. Holyoke recently approved a ban on future development of the centers, while Agawam approved a 270-day moratorium and Westfield approved a 12-month moratorium.
Additionally, lawmakers in the state Senate proposed an amendment to their affordability package earlier this summer that holds data centers responsible for the environmental and financial impacts on communities.
According to Loisel and other Northampton councilors, a joint committee would essentially gather facts about the centers and present them to the council. The hope is that those facts would properly inform the city’s decision-making process relating to zoning or data center projects in general, should they ever grace the city.
“I really like the idea and was happy to talk to the council president about it as well, of having some sort of joint committee commission to look at this, particularly because I know that there are some department heads who are interested in talking about it,” said Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra. “And that would be a good way to have their input as well. And so, you know, happy to hear from folks on their thoughts on this.”
No decisions were made at the council meeting, but many agreed that a formal plan should be implemented soon, especially with the imminent closure of the city’s Coca-Cola plant in December.
Ward 2 City Councilor Deborah Klemer also liked Loisel’s idea of forming a mayor/City Council committee. She pointed to the stories she sees every day about data centers as a reason the city should be proactive in its own discussions.
“I think it’s really smart to get a handle on the approaches of these companies and their tactics of getting the foot in the door,” Klemer said. “A time-limited fact-finding group would really be beneficial to all of us instead of waiting till it’s too late.”
As of press time, there is no formal proposal on the Coca-Cola site, and, in general, no data center application has been publicly filed with the city. However, the plant’s closure and its layoff of 175 employees prompted questions from residents across the city, according to Loisel.
“We’ve certainly received a lot of community information and concern about this, that it is really [incumbent upon] us to be able to establish something at least temporary very quickly,” said At Large City Councilor Meg Robbins, who wondered if a moratorium on the centers could be placed while the council explores the issue. “What’s happened in other communities is they have been thoughtful. They have done planning. They have done research.”
All councilors appeared receptive to researching data centers, but at least one felt it would be better to use one of the council’s existing committees to complete this work.
At Large City Councilor Garrick Perry said that forming a joint committee is “not a good idea” because it would hamstring the process of gathering information. He suggested the idea of maybe combining two of the council’s committees to explore the issue in-depth.
“I don’t think that having a joint committee is a bad idea in general, but if we’re really trying to deal with an issue and start these discussions, I’m very hesitant to support this path,” Perry said. “Maybe we look at places where we can start this conversation, having department heads come through, maybe having a meeting where we put two committees together. So that’s what I think we can talk about.”
City Council President Rachel Maiore seemed open to that idea.
“I’ve been ambivalent about that as well, whether it’s like, should we make a new structure? Should we utilize one of our committees?” Maiore said. “We’ll unpack it a little bit more.”
Ward 6 City Councilor Chris Stratton said the sheer size of data centers across the country is what’s really driving discussions. He specifically highlighted the emergence of massive artificial intelligence workloads and how they’re using a ton of power and releasing a lot of heat, leading to environmental issues.
He urged the City Council to add a size threshold to any future zoning ordinance and specifically wondered what the data processing footprint is like in Northampton.
“It’s not just ‘data center bad’; it’s ‘huge data center bad,’” Stratton said. “And that’s maybe a distinction that we would want to make in an ordinance between local work and being the regional center for this, which is not a winning bargain for a community.”
More concrete discussions about forming a committee, or whether a new committee is necessary, will come at a later meeting.
