LOWELL, Mass. — Massachusetts is on track to get its first hyperscale data center, a massive facility designed to support everything from social media apps and uploaded photos to websites used by major corporations and government agencies. But 25 Investigates found growing concerns about how these centers could impact residents — including their utility bills.
Living next to an existing data center “isn’t easy,” Lowell resident Jake Fortes told Boston 25’s Kerry Kavanaugh as he walked through the city’s Sacred Heart neighborhood. “It’s constant sleepless nights because of the noise.” He added, “It has been nonstop noise, construction. Pollution.”
Fortes says he was born and raised in his Iowa Street home. And industry was always in his backyard. For decades it was a pasta factory. It was briefly a recycling center. Markley moved in about a decade ago.
A Markley Group spokesperson says they have been doing work to improve the property ever since.
The Markley Group told 25 Investigates its Lowell site is a co-location data center, saying: “Today, the Markley Group quietly ensures that hundreds of government agencies, universities, hospitals, and local businesses can operate without interruption—organizations that provide the vital services our families, neighbors, and communities depend upon.”
The company says its diesel generators are for emergency backup only and rarely run outside routine testing.
Still, Fortes said the facility has affected the neighborhood’s quality of life. “It should have never been allowed to be put into a residential neighborhood,” he said. Fortes founded Honest Future for Lowell, a grassroots coalition fighting community impacts of the Markley Data Center.
According to the website Data Center Map, Massachusetts has 50 data centers, but the rise of artificial intelligence has increased demand for more and larger facilities known has ‘hyperscale’ centers.
Massachusetts State Rep. Mike Finn said the jobs created would be “high tech jobs, they’re very good paying well-paying jobs.” Finn helped pass a sales and use tax incentive aimed at making Massachusetts more attractive for big tech developers. In order for a company to qualify for the tax break, they have to maintain at least 100 jobs among other stipulations.
The planned hyperscale facility — a $4 billion project spanning about 120 acres — would be in Westfield. Finn said, “On day one, they would become the largest taxpayer for the city.” When asked whether this is the future, Finn said, “A hundred percent I think it’s the future.”
Advocates warn that the costs could fall on ratepayers.
“We need to protect ratepayers and community members,” said Tristan Thomas of Alternatives for Community and Environment. Thomas claims hyperscale centers come with a pattern seen nationwide: “When these hyperscale data centers move in, utility bills go up.”
Data centers run 24/7 and require constant cooling, pulling heavily from local water supplies. Massachusetts regulations leave the door open to nondisclosure agreements which could keep the public in the dark about electricity and water use.
“The fact that the sales and use tax incentive doesn’t have any requirements around electricity or water or transparency about the impact, it sort of does end up just being a giveaway,” Thomas said.
Dan Diorio of the Data Center Coalition pushed back, saying, “The data center industry is committed to paying our full cost of service for electricity.” As the group’s vice president of state policy, he added, “Data centers are committed to their communities, they’re committed to being responsible members of the community, and that involves investing in the infrastructure.”
Fortes said he has considered leaving Lowell but doesn’t know where he would go. “Where can you go? It’s too expensive,” he said.
The Markley Group says it is continually improving the Lowell property and believes the facility makes the area more attractive to new businesses. The group is currently looking to expand its operations which would include expanding how much diesel fuel it stores on-site. Currently it’s allowed to store 71,000 gallons. Its approval is pending with the City of Lowell.
Here is the Markley Group’s full statement:
“The Markley Group is deeply committed to protecting and strengthening the infrastructure that all of us rely on every single day.
Ten years ago Markley purchased their property in Lowell, a longtime industrial site, and invested hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up, restore, and transform it into a facility that now serves as the backbone of our region’s digital future.
Today, the Markley Group quietly ensures that hundreds of government agencies, universities, hospitals, and local businesses can operate without interruption—organizations that provide the vital services our families, neighbors, and communities depend upon. From healthcare to education, public safety to local commerce, our mission is to safeguard the systems that keep life running smoothly.
The Markley Group takes this responsibility seriously. Their facility meets or exceeds all local and state requirements for sound and air quality.
Markley’s emergency generators operate only during rare grid outages or brief scheduled tests lasting 5 minutes per week, and each is fully enclosed to minimize noise. In addition, they’ve invested more than $5 million in advanced sound attenuation for their chillers, underscoring our commitment to being a responsible and considerate neighbor.
Above all, The Markley Group is proud to call Lowell home. While working to make Lowell and Massachusetts a leader in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, they provide good local jobs, contribute to the strength of the regional economy, and—most importantly—support the critical services that allow our community to thrive today and into the future. “
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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