We have learned that the GCEDC staff is recommending that the Board approve bringing a massive data center – Project Double Reed – to Genesee County. The GCEDC STAMP Committee will vote on this recommendation, as well as the staff’s recommendation to prepare a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) resolution for Double Reed, at a meeting on March 5. The full Board meets on March 6.
The GCEDC STAMP Committee and Board must VOTE NO! Residents of WNY say no to data centers. Protect our woods, our waters, and our way of life.
Among the three data centers currently under consideration for the STAMP mega industrial site, Double Reed has requested the largest amount in tax breaks - $472 million in combined sales and mortgage tax exemptions. Double Reed is projected to produce 122 jobs, meaning subsidies of $3.9 million per job. Backed by STREAM U.S. Data Centers, Double Reed will use 250 megawatts of electricity per year - significantly more than either competitor. This electricity would be drawn primarily from low-cost Niagara River hydropower. In addition, Double Reed would have the potential to burn over 20,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day.
At the start of its February 3 data center public hearings, which were held with little notice on a Monday at 2 pm, GCEDC announced it would not answer any questions. GCEDC cannot allocate hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to subsidize a development that will produce no public benefits and copious public harms, will squander 250 megawatts per year of our precious low-cost Niagara River hydropower for minimal jobs and massive corporate profit - all while refusing to answer public questions about the proposed project..
A data center at STAMP would profoundly harm Tonawanda Seneca Nation’s woods and waterways, destroy local ecologies, and undermine the quality of life and wellbeing of Nation citizens and other local residents. It would be a bad deal for Genesee County. The public sees through GCEDC’s desperate ploy to fill acreage and build the electric substation at STAMP. GCEDC must show basic respect for its neighbors: VOTE NO.