Subsidies for STAMP data center among largest ever

Genesee County, New York, is attracting attention for offering one of the largest data center subsidy packages in U.S. history to Stream Data Centers for a project at the STAMP Industrial Development Site in the town of Alabama. According to an Investigative Post report, this package ranks second only to an $8.3 billion Amazon data campus subsidy in Indiana, and is significantly higher than Amazon's $1 billion package in Oregon. The project, which will be the size of approximately 38 football fields, is expected to create 125 positions. The subsidy package breaks down to $1.7 million per job, the highest ever cost per job recorded by the research outfit Good Jobs First, which tracks project subsidies. Despite the Genesee County Economic Development Center arguing that these technical jobs with an average salary of $80,000-$90,000 are crucial for the county's future economy, the project faces strong opposition. Residents and members of the Tanowana Senican Nation are vehemently against the development. Their concerns include continuous noise from the 24/7 operation, potential harm to migratory birds and deer due to noise and glass frontage, greenhouse gas emissions from diesel backup generators, and worries about the data center's 500-megawatt energy consumption increasing local energy bills. A class-action lawsuit is also noted against Apollo, the private equity firm owning Stream Data Centers, alleging shareholders lost value due to CEO Mark Rowan's historical business connections with Jeffrey Epstein on complex tax restructurings.