A construction firm is planning a new data center in Beacon Falls, Connecticut, on a former sand mine and previously earmarked for a fuel cell plant.
According to MyCitizenNews, Torrington-based O&G Industries is planning to develop a data center on a site it owns. The construction firm’s new data center unit aims to construct a data center on about 25 acres of land it has owned for more than 20 years in between Gruber Road and Railroad Avenue.
Planned specifications weren’t shared, but the facility is estimated to require around $200 million to build. Engineering firm DeCarlo and Doll, as well as Yankee Gas are reportedly involved.
Jack Betkoski, vice chairman at Connecticut Public Utility Regulatory Authority, said the development would be “great” for Beacon Falls and could “bring a lot of tax dollars to the town.”
Council meeting minutes first refer to O&G considering a data center on the site in November 2020, which noted “getting natural gas to that area” could be a challenge. Minutes from December 2021 suggest the company’s plans were “gaining momentum” and looking to put the facility where it was previously planning to develop a fuel cell.
In 2015, O&G said it was planning to develop a 63MW solar-powered fuel cell power plant, dubbed the Beacon Falls Energy Park, on a 23.8-acre piece of land owned by O&G Industries off of Lopus Road. The site used to be a sand mine and would have been developed by its subsidiary CT Energy & Technology (CTE&T).
Construction would be done in three phases over three years and was ‘tentatively’ scheduled for the beginning of 2016; the last update to the Energy Park’s website was in 2018.
Minutes from February suggest O&G can’t go to the local Economic Develop Corporation to get the approvals from the State to build the center until the company gets an MoU from the town to participate in a Pilot Program for fee agreement in lieu of taxes, which is still being drawn up and must be approved.
Founded in 1923, O&G is a Connecticut-based construction firm. Its previous projects include roads, stadiums, medical centers, power plants, and airports. This would seemingly be its first data center.
“It’s got to be competitive with [data center] projects in the United States. That’s why they did it that way,” O&G’s Data Center manager Bill Corvo told MCN. “The idea is to get a fair but competitive in the host municipality fee agreements as opposed to regular taxes.”
Corvo said the company chose Beacon Falls because of a major fiber optic line behind the property, easy access to Route 8, a number of airports and an excellent connection with the town.
Town officials are hopeful to have the MoU finalized within the next 30 days.
