Data centers becoming big issue for candidates across Connecticut
Democratic Connecticut Senate candidate Joe De La Cruz and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff pledged to pursue a statewide moratorium on new data center construction. Republican candidate Heather Somers opposed a statewide mandate, arguing that individual towns should decide whether to approve projects after weighing environmental impacts against local tax revenue.
Data center development has become a campaign issue in Connecticut, with Democratic candidates Joe De La Cruz and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff advocating a statewide moratorium on new construction during the next legislative session. De La Cruz is seeking to unseat Republican state Sen. Heather Somers in a shoreline district, while Democrats are also targeting the issue as they seek to expand their Senate majority.
Somers said she would need to review any proposed bill and argued that Hartford should not dictate development decisions to individual municipalities. She said data centers could provide substantial local revenue and help reduce property taxes, while communities would need to weigh those benefits against environmental impacts. The Montville region has attracted proposed development because of the Millstone nuclear power station, although energy and policy experts cited Connecticut's high electricity costs as a potential obstacle to building data centers statewide.