Onondaga County has chosen a firm to conduct to study best practices in building a data center in the region. County officials chose CPL Team, the same engineering firm representing Genesee County’s economic development agency to facilitate the $20 billion Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park data center project, according to Planning Director Troy Waffner.
County Executive Ryan McMahon announced the county’s plan to fund a study about best practices for data centers in June.
“This is truly an agnostic study,” said Waffner. “None of us sitting here are going to get to decide who gets a data center and whether – it’s going to be under that municipality. We should be doing everything we can to support them in that decision.”
The planned study in Onondaga County has inspired criticism. Speaking to the County Legislature’s Planning and Economic Development Committee, Waffner addressed Facebook comments accusing the study of potential bias. He said no one involved had a personal view on data centers.
Data centers are broadly controversial across the country. A Gallup poll showed that 71% of Americans oppose data centers being built near them, citing a combination of environmental and quality-of-life concerns. Opposition to data centers has surpassed historic records for opposition to nuclear power plants by about 8 percentage points, according to Gallup.
The STAMP project is particularly controversial. Stream Data plans to build a data center at STAMP business park, between Buffalo and Rochester, and has applied for $6.4 million in sales and mortgage tax breaks per job created by the potential data center, the Investigative Post reported earlier this year. The project abuts Tonawanda Seneca Nation land and could threaten an old-growth forest known as the Big Woods. The Nation strongly opposes STAMP, and has pursued litigation to challenge industrial development and protect their rights near the site.
CPL was one of three bidders to perform the Onondaga County study. One firm had “engineered data centers through and through,” while another would have given a “great planning study with government alumni,” said Waffner. He said CPL combined the “best of both worlds” of planning and practical aspects. He mentioned their experience with STAMP as a highlight. The company is currently doing a SEQRA review for STAMP.
“They actually have some depth of knowledge about data centers,” said Waffner.
Onondaga County will pay $431,595 to CPL for the study, Waffner said.
The county would not build a data center itself. Most municipalities are not zoned in a way that would allow data centers to be built there. That gives local town and planning boards an opportunity to have input over whether they want a data center in their community. If towns approve zoning changes to accommodate data centers, stakeholders in the projects will have to engage with Onondaga County’s planning department for support. The county will also oversee wastewater treatment that could be connected to data centers.
One proposed data center in the Town of Lysander has been met with opposition. The town board eventually put a six-month moratorium on it. There is also currently a one-year statewide moratorium on building new data centers.
The county did not immediately provide CPL’s proposal, but a contract with the company should be finalized in the coming weeks, said Waffner. The study would begin in early-to-mid-November and be completed in May 2027.
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