Healey Outlines Framework for Data Center Growth in Massachusetts
Gov. Maura Healey laid out her guiding principles as data centers proliferate across the country, drawing bright lines around energy independence and environmental impacts while a more detailed set of guidelines is under development.
A Democrat seeking a second term this fall, Healey has both embraced the artificial intelligence industry that is driving much of the data center boom and moved to shore up state environmental protections. Her philosophy on data centers came up Tuesday during her appearance on GBH Radio, spurred on by a Boston Globe story about how a data center affects a Lowell neighborhood.
The governor told co-host Margery Eagan that, when it comes to data centers, “a couple things are absolutely imperative.”
“Number one: If there’s going to be a data center, it needs to be able to generate its own power. It can’t take power off the grid and away from the rest of us,” Healey said. “Number two: Any siting has got to be done with the environment in mind. We’ve seen data centers, particularly as you look across the [American] west, real concerns about water consumption and the like. All that’s got to be accounted for at the outset of any planning.”
The governor said she has “directed my team to develop a framework and guidelines for Massachusetts on this” and she expects “to be announcing more on this.”
“But those are the things they can’t — you know, you can’t suck energy off the grid and hurt other ratepayers, and you can’t do harm to our environment, especially when it comes to water,” she said.
Some data centers are already operating in Massachusetts and they’re necessary because of “the amount of compute power that we are using,” Healey said.
“I mean, every time you know you ask a question into Siri or ChatGPT, it’s going through something. It’s just the way we are as a world right now,” she said. “So, you know, we’ve got to be thoughtful about that, and we can’t do harm to the environment, we can’t do harm to ratepayers, and we should be moving towards renewable sources.”
Between high energy costs, state environmental regulations, a relative dearth of undeveloped space and other factors, Massachusetts has not been a major player in the national rise of data centers, or the accompanying pushback from communities where data centers have been built. Healey has encouraged the applied AI sector in particular, which does not put the same demand on energy grids as generative AI.
