Two Massachusetts cities are taking steps to prevent data centers from developing within their borders, joining a growing chorus of communities concerned about noise, air and climate pollution from the facilities.
Lowell recently passed a yearlong moratorium on data center development, and some Everett residents are hoping to follow suit, campaigning for a ban.
The rise of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has ballooned demand for data centers across the U.S. These server hubs process and store data, and require massive amounts of water and electricity to operate and cool equipment. They’re typically built close to population centers, where they have easy access to the grid and to customers that benefit from faster service.
But they make unpopular neighbors.
More than 140 activist groups in 24 states are campaigning to stop or slow down data center development. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has called for a nationwide pause on data center construction, citing environmental and ethical concerns about AI.
Data centers’ demand for power is straining the electrical grid in some places and spurring the development of fossil fuel power plants in others (around 39% of natural gas-fired power plants built last year served data centers). In 2024, these facilities in the U.S. consumed as much energy as the entire country of Pakistan, demand that’s projected to more than double by 2030.
People who live near data centers have complained about noise and air pollution, including from the use of fossil fuel-powered generators at the facilities. An analysis by Harvard public health researchers showed that a Virginia data center, abiding by state air quality regulations, was still projected to contribute up to $99 million in health damages to local residents each year.
There aren’t many large data centers in Massachusetts, and some Lowell officials are acting now to control their spread. City councilors in the Merrimack Valley city voted unanimously last month to enact a one-year moratorium on data center development. The pause appears to be the first of its kind in Massachusetts, according to the environmental watchdog group Slingshot. The moratorium will give city officials time to review zoning rules, according to Lowell City Councilor Kim Scott.
“The goal wasn’t to stop development, it was really to put everybody on a fair playing field and to protect the residents,” Scott said.
Lowell is already home to a data center operated by The Markley Group, which also runs the data center atop Macy’s in Boston’s Downtown Crossing. The company plans to further develop its 10-year-old Lowell facility, and has taken steps to expand its footprint into neighboring properties.
The vote for a moratorium marked a victory for neighbors who say they’re already being harmed by artificial intelligence infrastructure.
It came as a relief to Jake Fortes, whose childhood home abuts the Markley facility. He said he still remembers when the property was owned by Prince Pasta. In those days, he said, the street was quiet and he often played in the front yard.
Fortes, who still lives in the home, said he’s had a front row seat to Markley’s growth over the past decade. He’s seen generators and smokestacks fill the area near his property line. Fortes said the whir of the data center’s cooling systems reverberates through his home’s walls.
He compared the constant rumbling to an idling jet.
“You feel like it’s part of you,” he said.
Fortes, who founded the group Honest Future for Lowell to advocate for better conditions in the area, said emissions from the data center add to the burdens for residents.
“You can’t enjoy the outside because diesel fumes shoot out of the smokestack,” Fortes said.
Officials from Markley did not respond to requests for comment.
But the leader of at least one nearby business supported the company’s proposed expansion. Joe Balas, the president of an office furniture company, told planning officials that Markley has improved the area by removing dilapidated structures, cleaning up trash and planting more greenery.
“Markley has dramatically improved the site, contributed to the local economy, and helped improve property values through aesthetic and security improvements,” Balas wrote in a letter of support for the project.
State environmental officials have approved Markley’s previous requests to add diesel generators. Fortes and his group are working with the Yale Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic to challenge those earlier approvals, claiming the company committed “multiple sleights of hand” to make it seem like emissions were lower than in reality.
Closer to Boston, some Everett residents want to block data centers before they can be built.
Residents have high hopes for the redevelopment of a former ExxonMobil site in Everett, but some are concerned that a data center may be in the works.
During Stephanie McColaugh’s first meeting as a new planning board member last summer, she said, she realized data centers were among the possible uses for the site.
That was a “big red flag,” she said.
She’s proposed a citywide ban on data centers, which is scheduled for a hearing before the planning board in April.
The site developer, The Davis Companies, said it has no specific plans for a data center at the Everett location but wants to keep its options open.
“I don’t think that Everett wants to put a sign out that says, ‘Closed for business,’ ” said Davis Companies Chief Development Officer Michael Cantalupa.
If the city wants a vital new development, he said, it’s important that “data centers be defined in a way that they can meet the community’s needs, but also be an attractor to companies that would like to locate there.”
According to Cantalupa, many of the environmental concerns about data centers might be addressed with new technology. And he said Davis is exploring utility infrastructure upgrades that would benefit the surrounding area.
McColaugh said she’d be open to a data center if there were evidence it could be built without damaging the environment, and if the businesses involved would pay for local infrastructure upgrades to support their operations. But she said she was glad to see elected officials in Lowell vote for a pause on data center development.
“You’re stuck living with it,” she said. “So I think residents need to be vocal in their opposition and stop this from happening.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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