HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Data centers are popping up across the country. Now, a new proposal in Holyoke is already sparking pushback from residents concerned about the environment, noise, and strain on local resources.

Standing in front of what used to be the Hampden Paper Complex on Water Street could possibly be the future home of a new 20-megawatt data center. The new proposal would break ground on a new data center on 100 Water Street in the industrial flats neighborhood of Holyoke, it’s projected to cost $200 million.

The project developers, Chestnut River Power and Infrastructure, have compared the proposed size to the current Green High Performance Computer Center, which is also located in the city. Their representative said it’s a chance for the area to be revitalized, “this is an industrial area. Every single property on Water Street is industrial or just vacant land, it’s not straining our resources,” said Zaisha Robert.

The developers plan to use the existing infrastructure of Hamden Papers, which closed in 2020, and said that’s a main reason behind the selection of this property.

Data centers across the nation have been criticized by local residents for causing pollution, using large amounts of water resources, raising electric bills and the extreme noise some need to operate, “I think everywhere that they’ve already been, there’s been a lot of environmental issues and a lot of decline,” said Holyoke neighbor Janelle Finnegan, “water usage, air pollution, all of the above.”

The potential environmental impact is something at the forefront of questions surrounding the development for the city council, “it’s more or less around the nuances, around environmental dangers that could possibly happen, noise issues, and other different issues that may arise due to data centers” said Holyoke City Councilor Israel Rivera.

While this data center is not on the scale of some of the mega projects in other areas, its power will certainly have an impact on a smaller city like Holyoke.

20 megawatts, which to put into context, is enough to power around 15,000 homes, which is about equal to the number of occupied homes in Holyoke itself according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Holyoke Gas and Electric noted during the peak of summer, they generate approximately 75 megawatts.

Mayor Garcia said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he understands residents’ concerns, but also that he believes that this project can be managed responsibly to benefit the city.

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