“Today's announcement is a major economic milestone for the entire Hartford region,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in July 2018, nearing the end of his final year in office. Seven Stars Cloud Group, later known as Ideanomics, will transform the former University of Connecticut West Hartford campus into a “thriving center for research, training and business development,” Malloy said in a statement on the same day. It is considered certain.
The renderings of what would become known as FinTech Village a year later were impressive. Such a plan would “make our communities more livable and walkable,” Malloy said. His $283 million project uses artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to create 330 jobs in the business. Malloy celebrated by lending his $10 million to Ideanomics.
The 58-acre site at the intersection of Asylum Avenue and Trout Brook Road does not include a technology center. The abandoned land became an overgrown mess. The Patriots remain in Foxboro. The movie studio's supporters built a lonely guardhouse on a 40-acre property in South Windsor, but nothing else.
East Hartford does not have a year-round indoor ski area. The science center, located not far from where the New England Patriots' stadium was slated to be built, has not revived Hartford's economy, but the New York Times reported in 2000 that former Gov. John G. Rowland The administration was confident that this would happen.
New plans show the most detailed picture yet of the redeveloped UConn campus in West Hartford. This is what it looks like.
Now, a proposed data center that would draw power directly from Dominion's Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford has joined the growing list of life-changing proposals in Connecticut.
“Everyone wins. Ratepayers win. Labor wins. The environment wins. Connecticut wins,” data center developer Thomas Quinn wrote in the Courant last month. “This is the most significant achievement as we consider the development of a hyperscale AI data center located next to the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant.”
Mr. Quinn has hired former state Sen. William DiBella as his own lobbyist, which is itself a reason to proceed with caution.
A data center is a location where data is stored, processed, and distributed through the use of applications. The amount of data required to generate artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow and must be stored securely in data centers and made readily available. They require huge amounts of power to function.
The Courant's Ed Mahoney reported last month that the proposed data center on the Millstone plant's 55-acre site would use up to 13% of the electricity generated there. Under an agreement between Dominion and a data center developer, this power will be sold to Queens NE Edge at a cost far below that paid by residential and commercial customers, which is already It is the second highest state in the continental United States after California.
The state's interest in data centers increased in early 2021, when Wall Street appeared ready to consider large-scale data center moves out of New Jersey due to a looming stock transaction tax. The Connecticut General Assembly passed an emergency bill that would force New York's financial industry to store and process data in Connecticut. The New Jersey Legislature withdrew the proposal.
The power supply is the price of admission to the data center sweepstakes. Developer Quinn wrote that Connecticut has an abundance of electricity and more is being developed. This seems like an optimistic and flimsy gimmick.
During periods of severe cold and heat, our region's power grid is stretched to its limits. The collapse of the Park City wind project last fall means the addition of a critical 804 watts of clean electricity supply will be significantly delayed.
Electricity demand in Connecticut is likely to grow faster than supply. This is what keeps leaders like the governor from sleeping.
Millstone has been our largest generator for many years. The facility is owned by Dominion, which threatened to close the two nuclear power plants several years ago.
The Legislature's Energy and Technology Committee recognizes that data centers can pose a risk to the state's reliable power supply to residents and businesses. Last month, a proposal by Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, passed, requiring the regional power grid administrator to require ISO-New England to study the impact data centers have on the cost and supply of electricity. It was done. One issue that doesn't get enough attention is data center backup power sources.
For example, nuclear power plants shut down approximately once every 18 to 24 months for maintenance, inspection, and refueling. Other unexpected disruptions may occur. The data center never shuts down. Their customers don't need any interruptions. The proposed data center requires a reliable backup power source other than Millstone.
Data centers are a shiny prize for economic development officials and a sign that the nation is hurtling toward the future. Before making irrevocable promises to would-be controversial data center developers, policymakers, power producers, and ratepayers should ensure that the cost of data centers for the rest of the population is higher. Well, you need to understand whether your house is cold or hot in winter. summer.
Kevin Rennie can be reached at kfrennie@yahoo.com.