Northeastern US Big Data Development Blasts Off!

Industry Voice by Gotspace Data | Jul 06, 2021

Thomas Quinn, CEO of Gotspace, says Connecticut’s new data tax incentive law will help launch a New England data corridor between NYC and Boston. With explosive data center growth and the need for hyperscale and large colocation development in areas of inexpensive and abundant utility—coupled with main trunk fiber connectivity and 35 million people within 200 miles—Gotspace has achieved ALL the metrics for the Northeast’s critical IT development needs.

Got Big Data Tax Incentives?

Yes! On March 5, 2021, Connecticut governor Ned Lamont signed into law a best-in-class data tax incentive (State of Connecticut HB 6514). Gotspace was instrumental in the process by creating the big data draft incentives, working with the State of Connecticut and the DECD Commissioner, and lobbying the bill to supermajority approval.

Incentives includes a 20-year sales, use, and property tax exemption with an investment of $200 million and a 30-year sales, use, and property tax exemption with an investment of $400 million. This contractual agreement locks down these incentives to meet the thresholds of investment commitment.

In addition, these Connecticut data tax incentives are free from jobs reporting/jobs thresholds or data center requalifications, making this the simplest and most straightforward guaranteed data tax incentive in the US. Connecticut’s big data law also defines financial and banking relocation opportunities with an unprecedented 30-year financial transaction tax exemption.

Got Juice?

Yes! Gotspace tapped the municipal utility network to lower managed electricity costs to national market deltas. On Feb. 11, 2021, New England’s annual capacity auction for power system resources concluded with sufficient resources to meet peak demand in 2024-2025, with preliminary clearing prices ranging from $2.48 per kilowatt-month (kW-month) to $3.98 kW-month across different pricing zones. 20-year utility contracts with extensions are currently available.

As part of this work, Gotspace developed exclusively entitled campuses, covering more than 1,700 acres, all located within these low-cost-of-utility areas. The grid supports abundant utility and Gotspace’s sites are strategically designed around large substations or 345 kV with defined pathways.

Got Connectivity?

Yes! Connectivity is immediately adjacent to Gotspace campuses and main trunk fiber, with excellent latency between NYC, Boston, and beyond over multiple fiber providers.

Got Northeast Regional Demand?

Yes! The region is home to more than 100 major insurance companies, large med-tech and big pharma, financial institutions, US defense contractors, AI and edge computing opportunities and much more. At this time, nearly all this data storage is outsourced—and 10% of the US population lives there!

Got Dirt?

Yes! Gotspace’s Master Developer “Ready to Market” approach offers exclusive big data opportunities in municipalities with inexpensive and abundant electricity. Campuses in these municipal utility areas are finite and offer multiple scalability options. Gotspace offerings range up to 300 acres. 

Got “Ready to Market”?

Yes! The new data tax incentive requires municipal hosting agreements which are presently fully negotiated and executed to support these big data campus developments—saving months of long contractual delays. Gotspace’s municipal hosting agreements define a fixed-stepped fee based on MW usage, paid annually, and other terms, starting one year from building occupancy.

Gotspace?

Yes! Siting of data centers are available from 150,000 to 1.5 million square feet. Any company seeking northeast data center investment and development opportunities will not elsewhere achieve this combination of tax incentives, in-place entitlements and low utility cost with state and municipal cooperation and multiple fast fiber providers.

For more information, contact Gotspace CEO Thomas Quinn at ttt@gotspacedata.com.

Detour ahead: Greenwich begins project to repave at least 67 roads this summer

Staff Reports

GREENWICH — Summer is officially paving season in Greenwich, with the roadwork starting this week.

This year, at least 67 roads will be repaved, according to the town. Working east to west, the work will start in Old Greenwich and is projected to finish in Byram.

Drivers should be on the lookout for signs and detours posted by the Highway Division. For the safety of the workers, drives should stay alert, slow down and select alternative routes.

Bad weather, contractor schedules and other unforeseen circumstances can impact the work. Residents should watch for message boards in advance of paving operations for more schedule information.

Police officers or flaggers will be posted during the work to direct traffic and pedestrians through the work zones. Use extra caution as you drive through work zones. Short-term delays may occur so consider alternate routes when possible.

After the road has been paved, a second crew will come through to make driveway apron modifications. This does not apply to all driveways, only the ones that need grade changes. No changes will be made to Belgium block apron and/or curbing.

Project worth $13.1 million would bring solar panels to multiple Danbury buildings

Julia Perkins

DANBURY — The city is considering installing solar panels on five schools and the library, a project that is expected to save Danbury millions in energy costs.

The City Council is expected to discuss the $13.1 million project at its Wednesday evening meeting. Most of that cost is anticipated to be paid for through state grants, while the rest would be covered by future electric savings. The city would pay back the cost over almost nine years.

“The technology is here, and it’s time to keep looking at this as ways to go green, be green,” Mayor Joe Cavo said.

Solar panels would be installed on the library, Broadview, Rogers Park and Westside middle schools, King Street Primary School, and Danbury High School and its carport.

The school district is estimated to save $700,000 annually after the city finishes covering the lease payments, according to documents submitted to City Council.

“There should be some tremendous savings going forward,” Cavo said.

Danbury plans to apply for state school construction grants to cover about $8 million of the cost for the education buildings. The library is not eligible for this funding. The estimated $5.1 million in electric savings over almost nine years would cover the rest of the cost.

The electric savings and credits from Eversource’s Zero Emission Renewable Energy Certification program would be applied toward lease payments.

The city has hired Johnson Controls, Inc. to design and provide engineering and other services for the arrays for a fee of about $97,600. That fee would be waived if the city agrees for the company to do the project within 60 days of gaining approval for the state grants.

It’s possible the “potential financials could improve” if Johnson Controls receives additional funding through the renewable energy program, according a letter to the city.

A city and school energy efficiency committee worked with a consultant, NV5, to pick where to install solar. These schools were selected because they are eligible for funding and it would be easier to install the panels there based on an initial assessment, said David St. Hilaire, the city’s finance director who is on the committee.

“We’re going to do the deep dive into the engineering now,” he said.

Schools with older roofs that need to be replaced are not good options, he said.

Ellsworth Avenue and Park Avenue elementary schools already have solar panels.

The high school’s array would be the largest of the proposed at about 1,064 kilowatts direct current, while the library’s would be the smallest at about 148 kilowatts direct current.

Katie Pearson, director at the Danbury Library, said she didn’t know much about the project, but that she’d support solar panels the building.

“I’m sure it would save some money,” she said.

The committee is exploring other lighting or solar projects, which other schools could be a part of, St. Hilaire said.

“We’re not looking at this as a one-time thing,” St. Hilaire said. “Our energy savings program, it’s multi-faceted, but this is a project that is easily achievable.”

The city would apply for the state grant by Aug. 9, with the solar arrays being designed by Oct. 30, according to an agreement between the city and Johnson Controls.

Construction on the panels at the schools would start during summer break next year, St. Hilaire said.

Fishing industry feels stranded as offshore wind gathers momentum

Harriet Jones

On a clear morning in early June, cotton sacks filled with shucked scallops hit the scale at Gambardella’s dockside warehouse in Stonington, Connecticut. They’re being offloaded from the Furious, a scallop boat just back from a 12-day trip.

Owner and longtime fisherman Joe Gilbert runs four scallop boats out of this dock. Up in the wheelhouse of the Furious, he indicated on a chart where in the future, this same trip might be a lot more difficult to navigate.

“This entire area here is slated to be a wind farm,” he said. “It’s an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.”

In its pursuit of green energy, the Biden administration has given strong backing to the nascent offshore wind industry in the U.S. While Europe has 20 years of experience developing offshore wind, it’s relatively new in North America.

Last month saw the final approval for the very first commercial-scale project, Vineyard Wind, off the coast of Massachusetts — just one of 14 projects being considered off the Atlantic coast.

But these aren’t empty seas. Plenty of other ocean users have concerns about the massive steel turbines being erected offshore, not least commercial fishing, which is a multimillion-dollar industry in New England.

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance has taken the lead in advocating for the fishing industry. Its major concern is that fishing vessels could strike one of the massive wind farm turbines in bad weather. In addition, the spinning blades interfere with the radar vessels use to find their catch. And fishermen like Gilbert worry that the structures will alter the ocean ecosystem as they change current patterns and cause formerly distinct layers of water to mix.

“We’re racing forward without the proper science to evaluate if this is good or if this is bad,” said Gilbert.

But there is research from Europe, according to Amanda Lefton, director of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

“While offshore wind is new to us in the United States, it’s certainly not a new technology in other places,” she said.

The federal agency is in charge of leasing tracts of the ocean for wind projects.

“As we actually seek to look at what will we actually lease, we’re even further narrowing those areas to try and do our best to avoid conflicts with ocean users,” Lefton said.

Orsted, a Danish giant in the wind farm business, has five projects planned for the Atlantic coast. John O’Keeffe, the company’s head of marine affairs in North America, said the concerns of the fishing industry have been incorporated into the process.

“It’s a good storyline to say you had no input, but the reality is there’s been input for years,” he said.

Orsted recently signed an agreement with one fishing industry group based in Waterford, which will use its vessels for research and liaison as the turbines are placed offshore in the company’s Revolution, South Fork and Sunrise wind projects.

“The spacing that is agreed to is the largest spacing in the world,” O’Keeffe said. “One nautical mile spacing. It does not exist anywhere else.”

But the coexistence of these two industries is still in doubt. In its part of a recent approval of one project, the federal Army Corps of Engineers said the difficulty of navigation means that commercial fishing likely will be abandoned within the new wind farms.

Back in Stonington, that’s exactly what Joe Gilbert fears.

“We’re afraid we’re going to lose our livelihoods. This is an existential threat to us,” he said.

Gilbert wants to know why the turbines must be dropped on top of fishing grounds in the first place. He’d like to see them sited in deeper water far from shore.

Some Atlantic coast wind farm companies are in talks to establish compensation funds for economic damage to commercial fisheries as part of the federal approval process.