Oppose data center at STAMP that would consume enormous resources with little job creation

Editor:

Hey neighbors! Let’s come together to stop the monster that threatens us and our way of life.

Local residents of Genesee County are outraged and horrified by the new plan from STREAM US Data Centers and their corporate backer, private equity firm Apollo Global Management, to ruin our quality of life to make a profit.

Our community strongly opposed the siting of a data center at STAMP one year ago when GCEDC first tried this scheme. The Tonawanda Seneca Nation and the Sierra Club sued to challenge the environmental approvals and they succeeded in getting GCEDC to withdraw the approvals for a 900,000 square foot / 250 MW data center being proposed by STREAM.

Now, STREAM has been bought out by one of the world’s largest private equity firms, Apollo Global Management, and they are coming back to try with an even more outrageous plan. They have proposed to build a 2.2-million-square-foot data center that would guzzle 500 megawatts of power per year – enough to power roughly 400,700 households total – or the equivalent of nearly every home in Monroe, Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties combined.

The data center would raise our power bills, increase air pollution, and would make 24/7 noise that would affect the physical and mental health of local residents and harm wildlife. We also can expect that the data center developers will ask for all of us to subsidize this monster data center – possibly up to 750 million dollars (they asked for $472 million the first time around).

And for what? Data centers don’t create many permanent jobs – STREAM is claiming around 100 for this project. They have a short lifespan – 15 to 20 years before they get mothballed. The AI-based economy is heading for a crash. This is not a good investment for our region.

Across the country, communities are saying no to data centers that are trying to steal their resources – and they are winning! This is not a partisan issue. This is an issue about local control over our shared environmental resources, our tax dollars, and our quality of life.

So join us in telling GCEDC, STREAM, and Apollo to go away: No Data Centers in Genesee County. Together, we can stop this monster.

Come to our next meeting: Desserts and Data Center Discussions: 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27 at The Goose Community Center, 33 South Main St. in Oakfield. We will share more info about the data center plans, answer questions, and talk about

next steps to stop this monster from invading our community!

Here are a few other dates to keep in mind: 1) The Town of Alabama Planning Board will meet on Monday, February 2 at 7 p.m. They are responsible for reviewing the data center site plan, which so far hasn’t been shared. And 2) The GCEDC Board of Directors meets on Thursday, February 5 at 4 p.m. at the MedTech Center in Batavia. Their meetings are open to the public, but they won’t let you speak or ask questions! We will be there with signs.

For more info, call or text (585) 300-4925 or email alliesoftsn@gmail.com.

Alyssa Beuler

Oakfield