The majority of Vermonters say they would support a statewide ban on building large-scale data centers, according to a new poll conducted by Vermont Public.
Large data centers, which are being built rapidly across the country, have drawn scrutiny for using vast amounts of electricity and concern about how much water they use to stay cool while they operate.
Overall, 64% of Vermont respondents said they would support a ban on large data centers. Just 20% of respondents said they do not support a ban.
“If I knew that 50% of the profit that was being generated by each data center was coming back into our economy, I could live with them, but I don’t believe that’s the case,” said Bob Wells, a business owner in Thetford Center. “I also don’t believe they have a lot of long-term jobs, and they are vast consumers of resources.”
Nationwide, roughly 65% of Americans say they would oppose a large data center in their community.
In Vermont, Democrats were far more likely to oppose large data centers, with 78% of Democrat poll respondents saying they support a statewide ban. In contrast, 48% of Republicans said they would support a ban.
“They'll buy land and have jobs, but not enough to cover what they take,” said Alec Thomas Nadeau, of Barre Town.
Right now, there are no active bids to build a large data center in Vermont. But a 200 megawatt data center has been proposed in Massachusetts — which, if successful, would draw about as much power as roughly 200,000 New England homes, and could affect electric rates for Vermonters.
Data centers require — among other conditions — cheap electricity, cheap and abundant water, and land.
Developers haven’t flocked to Vermont so far in the way they have to other parts of the country, in part because of New England’s relatively high electric rates and comparatively robust land use regulations. However, ISO New England, the regional grid operator, told federal regulators in June it expects to see more data centers proposed here in the future as electricity markets elsewhere in the country get saturated.
Very large data centers can make it expensive and more difficult to keep the grid up and running because they use so much power. Sometimes the grid itself has to be beefed up to accommodate all the power they use, and that can be expensive. It's a concern because traditionally, it's electric customers who pay for upgrades to the power grid.
No federal regulations specifically govern how or where data centers can be built across the country. Federal regulators have tasked regional grid operators with recommending rules for very large energy users — a process that is already underway in New England.
Under Vermont’s current regulations, small data center proposals would have to get sign off from the state’s Public Utility Commission and potentially undergo Act 250 review as well as complying with local zoning bylaws.
A large data center would have to work with a utility to negotiate an agreement with ISO New England, the regional grid operator, before it could be built in Vermont. Any upgrades to the transmission grid would be the developer’s responsibility, said Vermont’s local grid operator, VELCO. Vermont lawmakers crafted legislation to further regulate large data centers during the recent legislative session.
The bill drew bipartisan support, but Gov. Phil Scott vetoed it, saying Vermont’s existing regulations are sufficient to protect electric customers and the landscape, and that the bill would send the message that Vermont is hostile to new businesses.
Meanwhile, the Scott administration has advocated for strengthening federal regulations to protect water resources and utility customers.
Proponents of data centers see them as an opportunity to make industry pay for needed upgrades to rural electrical systems — provided they bring their own power generation to the table and cooperate with local utilities, said Vermont Commissioner of Public Service Kerrick Johnson.
“Concern is if data centers are allowed to tap into the current market where there is a restrained supply, it will raise the cost of energy,” Johnson said.
The recent poll suggests Vermonters are skeptical of these facilities, regardless of what part of the state they live in, their age or their level of education.
