Tell Governor Lamont & Your Legislators to protect Connecticut from AI Data Centers!

Will you support a statewide moratorium on data centers?

I’m writing to ask for your public position on data centers and for specific action from you. Currently, Connecticut is deciding these projects one town at a time. While data servers vary in size – from a small server room in an office to massive buildings the size of hundreds of football fields known as “hyperscale” data centers, these gigantic data centers are the subject of much attention due to their size, the speed at which they are being built across the US, and their environmental impact on local communities. A large facility uses millions of gallons of water, new substations, transmission lines and cleared land. Household energy bills are already up about 28 percent since 2020, some of which is being driven by AI expansion, and the generation and grid upgrades these facilities need could push them even higher. Once construction begins, stopping a project is almost impossible. 1. A statewide moratorium. Will you support a moratorium on new and expanded data centers of 20 MW or more, and will you introduce and co-sponsor a bill? The pause created by a moratorium would provide time to write enforceable standards for water use, noise, air quality, backup generators, tree clearing and disclosure of development agreements, with renewable energy requirements for facility operations. 2. An end to tax incentives. Will you vote to end Connecticut’s current tax incentive for data centers? Similar legislation was proposed in SB 245 last year. Companies that build infrastructure mainly to serve their own facilities should pay for it, and ratepayers and taxpayers should not. 3. Protection for environmental justice communities and towns with limited resources. Some towns have planning departments, consultants and attorneys. Many have a volunteer decision-making body, a small budget that can be overwhelmed by developers with resources. Communities that already carry more than their share of pollution, often predominantly Black and brown or low income, are the most exposed. Some might be asked to negotiate under nondisclosure agreements that keep residents from seeing what is being decided. What will you do so that all towns get statewide rules, independent fiscal and environmental review, and full public disclosure, and aren’t left to fight alone? Please let me know your position on each of these questions! Sincerely,