Waterford Data Center Plan is a Winner

Waterford data center plan is a 
winner 
March 02, 2023 2:53 pm • Last Updated: March 02, 2023 2:53 pm 
By The Day Editorial Board 
 
This plan is much better. 
About a year ago the Groton Town Council, facing strong public opposition, ended 
discussions about building a massive data center there. Now the same developer, 
NE Edge, LLC, is pursuing a data center project in Waterford. 
The Waterford proposal gets right many of the things the Groton version got 
wrong. 
In a March 2022 editorial, we backed the Groton council’s decision to pull the 
plug on the data center proposal there. The site, near a reservoir, was a poor choice. 
It would have chewed up forested land and detracted from the quality of life for 
those living nearby. 
While recognizing the necessity of these data centers and defending the 
legislature’s decision to offer incentives so that Connecticut could compete with 
other states in attracting them, our editorial also called for more sensible decision 
making in choosing where to build them. 
Building data centers in “former industrial sites, existing industrial parks, or 
repurposed warehouses” made more sense than cutting down trees or squeezing 
them near residential locations, the editorial argued. 
The Waterford proposal calls for construction of a large data center at an existing 
industrial site, the Millstone Power Station. Even better. 
The Waterford Board of Selectmen, in a Feb. 23 joint session with the 
Representative Town Meeting, approved a deal with NE Edge that will send $231 
million to the town over 30 years. To attract data centers the legislature waived 
local property taxes, leaving it to municipalities to negotiate revenue deals. Even 
though NE Edge gets a discount over what it would pay if fully taxed by 

Waterford, it will still be second only to Millstone in terms of the revenue it 
generates for the town. 
This is a terrific location. Electricity for the energy-hungry data center will come 
from the two Millstone reactors, a power source free of greenhouse emissions. The 
deal NE Edge signed with Millstone owner Dominion Energy — details were not 
disclosed — will strengthen its business standing and help assure its operation well 
into the future. 
The Millstone reactors are critically important, both as a major source for the 
region’s electricity needs and as climate-friendly power generators. 
Planned are a pair of massive two-story data facilities. The first will be 568,000 
square feet, the second 214,000 square feet. Despite their size, they will occupy 
only a small fraction of the 500-acre Millstone site. 
Providing cloud and other data storage, such centers are critical to life and 
economic growth in the digital age, allowing the accessing, sharing and storage of 
enormous amounts of information. 
This project would be a major job creator, generating upwards of 2,000 
construction jobs and as many as 500 full-time positions when in operation. 
Congratulations to First Selectman Rob Brule for negotiating and closing this deal. 
While the financial terms of the deal are settled, the project still needs various 
local, state and federal approvals. As things stand now, however, this project looks 
like a winner. With data centers, as with real estate, it is all about location, 
location, location. 
The Day editorial board meets regularly with political, business and community 
leaders and convenes weekly to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of 
President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larrañeta, 
copy editor Owen Poole and retired deputy managing editor Lisa McGinley. 
However, only the publisher and editorial page editor are responsible for 
developing the editorial opinions. The board operates independently from the Day 
newsroom.