Data centers in New Hampshire

"We don't want data centers. We want to inherit a world that isn't too damaged to fix, and that starts here"

Ayotte cited concerns about the amount of energy involved in data centers, as well as water and environmental impacts

Gov. Ayotte opposed data center proposals in Nottingham and Bow that came forward earlier this year

US Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D NY, criticized the bill calling it toothless and said Senate Democrats want to make it mandatory for data centers to cover their own costs by law, not by voluntary agreement

Martin Heinrich has pushed an alternative called the GRID Savings Act that would require large electricity users to pay for the grid infrastructure needed to connect them

Senate Democrats argued that the Ratepayer Protection Act makes protections for Americans optional, not mandatory

The Ratepayer Protection Act would require states to consider adopting standards under which large electricity users including data centers would pay for incremental costs of generation transmission and distribution infrastructure

Sam Hayden, resident of Hopkinton, wrote that construction of hyperscale data center will be detriment to Bow and region because these facilities consume enormous amounts of electricity, provide few permanent jobs, require environmental costs and infrastructure, and risk higher rates

Beth Hamilton Karas stated that a data center at Merrimack Station would impact the region at large and downstream communities

Data centers require millions of gallons of water for cooling and generate little local employment

Data centers are among the most power intensive facilities ever built; a single large scale facility can consume as much electricity as a small city

Sharon Carson, Senate President, says move would help protect state taxpayers from burden of data center development

Senate President Sharon Carson announced the Senate would explore legislation to protect New Hampshire taxpayers from data center development

Dan Innis supports Governor Ayotte's proposed moratorium on data centers

Michael Vose, former chair of the N.H. House Science, Technology, & Energy Committee and sponsor of HB 672, argues that data centers should provide their own power under House Bill 672 rather than being subject to a state moratorium.

Governor Kelly Ayotte has proposed a statewide data center moratorium, citing insufficient state energy resources.

Councilor Phil Jones cited concerns about noise, energy and water use, diesel generators, property values and infrastructure for large scale commercial data center facilities

The temporary ordinance is intended to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of Nottingham and the surrounding communities, along with the regional watershed

Gov. Ayotte stated she wants to reduce energy prices and that data centers would raise energy costs

2nd District Democratic candidate Paige Beauchemin says legislation guaranteeing local control should be put in place before new data centers are approved.

Ayotte responded to concerns about potential artificial intelligence data center in Bow saying she cannot support that

Cinde Warmington, Democratic opponent to Ayotte, said incumbent governor late to raise data center objections

Stefany Shaheen, Democratic candidate for 1st Congressional District, concerned federal filings made in April but no public notification to Granite Staters

Governor Ayotte said the head of ISO New England confirmed that a large data center would raise energy prices in New Hampshire and across New England.

Eversource spokesman William Hinkle stated Eversource only delivers power, does not generate it, and does not develop data centers, and is obligated to respond to all proposals from developers

Bow Selectboard Chair Kip McDaniel confirmed the town has been having talks with a private business interested in building a data center

Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill said discussions about a massive data center in Bow are happening now and called for immediate action instead of waiting for a moratorium in July 2027.

Governor Ayotte stated the moratorium is because 'we don't have the energy to do it' and she wants to bring electric prices down, not up.

Warmington would champion regulatory framework with Community Bill of Rights to protect Granite Staters and ensure data centers pay fair share

Warmington said her first executive order as governor would be to impose a moratorium on data centers

Warmington noted Ayotte received nearly $138,000 in campaign checks from data center industry

William Hinkle, Eversource spokesman, said Eversource is obligated by law to respond to all developer proposals and has no role in determining whether projects are allowed to interconnect if they receive required approvals

During moratorium period, state should study impacts including water draw and noise from data centers

Ayotte said energy supply is not there and state does not want energy costs to go up

Ayotte said even if one town wants data center it affects everyone's energy rates

Ayotte said data centers take tremendous amount of energy and this is not sustainable in New Hampshire or New England for energy costs

Governor Kelly Ayotte stated in response to Bow proposal that she will advocate for towns to decide what is best for them but thinks it is best to institute a moratorium because too many unknowns surround data centers

Shaheen said she would support federal legislation requiring data center developers to pay host communities to cover power and other public assets costs

Granite Shore Power said no decisions have been made about redevelopment use of nearly 400 acre property

Governor Kelly Ayotte told News 9 on Wednesday that she will include a data center moratorium in upcoming budget in House Bill 2

Cinde Warmington, running in Democratic primary for governor, said on Day One she will issue an executive order placing a temporary moratorium on large scale data centers

Ayotte said she spoke with executives of ISO New England which manages regional power transmission system before firming up moratorium opinion

Executive Councilor Liot Hill said waiting for a moratorium until the next state budget takes effect in July 2027 is too late and the Governor should use executive authority to put an immediate temporary moratorium in place

New Hampshire Consumer Advocate Donald Kreis reported developer considering data center project of up to 200 MW for Bow

New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte stated I support a moratorium on data center construction in New Hampshire because too many unknowns surround these facilities

Trump wrote communities should not oppose data centers or they will become backwards and poor

Bow Select Board Chairman Kip McDaniel said data centers can be valued very highly and that in a property tax based state that can be hugely beneficial

Eversource Energy spokesperson William Hinkle said the utility is concerned about possible effects of large load data center developments on the grid

A National Republican Senatorial Committee memo warned that Americans' attitudes toward data centers have turned toxic, with internal polls showing data centers are as popular as spent nuclear waste.

President Trump said in an interview that communities that do not take a data center are making a mistake.

Democratic attorneys general from 14 states are pushing back against the EPA's plan.

Under the EPA's approach, residents in local communities might lose the ability to raise concerns about data centers before permits are approved and construction starts.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte said the head of ISO New England told her that New England can only maybe get one data center of not massive size without jacking up energy prices on people

Gov. Kelly Ayotte stated it does not make sense to site a data center in New Hampshire because the state does not have the energy for it and it is not an appropriate location

Mayor Chuck Grassie said because the city cannot outright ban data centers, he wants to do everything he can to discourage anyone from locating one in Rochester

Matthew Viger, a student, stated that AI data centers lower tax values, putting cities in budget crises and decreasing investment ability

Mayor Chuck Grassie said no proposals for data centers have been submitted to Rochester but expressed concerns about water usage, energy usage and environmental impacts

Raymond Wayman, Zoning Board of Approval member, stated ordinance allows city to ask right questions of data center developers

Kristen Lamb said residents want to move forward with a moratorium or make it explicit that data centers cannot be approved

Kristen Lamb expressed concerns about water quality impacts, increased electricity bills and noise pollution from the data center

"I kind of didn't expect this at all, to be honest with you"

"My neighbors, specifically, had to actually drill deeper, just to get water"