Northampton proposes one-year data center moratorium
The City Council will study whether to block data center construction for a year amid regional concerns about environmental and energy impacts.
NORTHAMPTON — The City Council will hold a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to impose a year-long moratorium on artificial intelligence data center construction as concerns about their environmental impact spread across the region.
The ordinance would also establish a joint mayoral-council committee to study and potentially regulate data centers. On Thursday, the council referred the proposal to the Committee on Legislative Matters and the Planning Board, which are expected to hold a joint meeting before the full council votes.
Data centers have become controversial in many communities due to their substantial energy and water consumption. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, large data centers can use up to 5 million gallons of water daily, equivalent to the daily water usage of a town with 10,000 to 50,000 residents. Environmental experts point to the facilities' potential to pollute waterways and release significant heat.
Ward 3 Councilor Laurie Loisel, a co-sponsor of the ordinance, said the moratorium would allow time for study without rushing to judgment. "The moratorium, I hope, will help take the heat off and just let us look at it with some measure of dispassion, so that we can get the information we need to make the decisions that we need to make," Loisel said.
Ward 6 Councilor Christopher Stratton argued that any moratorium should target only large-scale data centers. He cited a Westfield proposal that would have used 274 megawatts, roughly three times Northampton's total energy usage, and noted that existing businesses often operate data services without triggering the label "data center."
Ward 1 Councilor Gwen Nabad, another co-sponsor, emphasized the urgency of acting before such projects arrive in the city without scrutiny. "Once it starts, it has the potential to just sort of blow up," Nabad said of data center development in communities across the nation.
Other communities in the region are taking similar steps. Easthampton and Greenfield are both considering temporary moratoriums, Westfield has already approved one, and Shutesbury and Holyoke have banned data centers outright. The proposal is expected to return to the full council at its September 17 meeting.