A proposal to study how large-scale data centers might affect the reliability of the state’s electric grid is drawing opposition from those who say it would delay critical development. The legislation would require the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to conduct the evaluation with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Office of Consumer Counsel and ISO-New England, the nonprofit corporation that manages the region’s power grid. It calls for the effort to be completed by July 1 of this year. Leaders with DEEP and the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development took opposing stances on the measure. Since the incentive was signed, a small number of developers have taken initial steps to begin data center construction in a few Connecticut towns. One major project — a hyperscale, 300-megawatt development on the site of the Millstone nuclear power station in Waterford — is closest to breaking ground. The developer behind that project, NE Edge, signed what’s known as a “host fee agreement” with the town last March, promising to pay a fee of $231 million over 30 years in lieu of property taxes, as provided for in the 2021 legislation.
https://www.theday.com/state/20240310/legislature-seeks-data-center-study-concerns-raised-over-delays/