Updated: Data Centers answers questions on $1.1 billion project; UD forms working group

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The Data Centers  released answers to more than 200 questions that were posed at a public information meeting last month regarding a proposed $1.1 billion project on the University of Delaware STAR Campus in Newark.

The meeting attracted upwards of 400 people to a community center in the city. A follow-up public meeting was held by legislators on Tuesday night. The Data Centers was not invited to that discussion. The answers to the questions are posted here.

Opponents to the project never formally acknowledged the existence of the answers in their websites and social media postings as their campaign continued.

In a related move, the University of Delaware formed an internal working group after saying little about the facility following the signing of a lease.

The group is being asked to evaluate the facility’s impact on the STAR campus and the surrounding community and plans to use third-party engineering consultants, who will review the plan and submit concerns to top UD officials.

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UD has also been the target of criticism of opponents and to data has not formally participated in public discussions discussions on the project.

Data Centers based in West Chester, Pa., says the project will use combined heat and power, technologies  that  have  the endorsement of the Environmental Protection Agency, the national Sierra Club, Greenpeace and other organizations.

The approach involves using the considerable amount of heat coming out of computer servers at the data center, along with natural gas power to produce electricity and steam. A portion of the electric power could be sold on the open market.

Plans call for carbon dioxide generated by a power plant to be extracted and reused for other purposes.

The project has been opposed by the Delaware Chapter of the Sierra Club and other groups that have criticized the use of natural gas and other features of the plant. They claim the site is too close to homes and could generate excessive amounts of noise.

Instead, the groups claim the use of solar energy and perhaps Bloom Energy fuel cells would be a better alternative.

Data Centers officials say the cost of alternative power rules out their use as primary energy sources. The Data Centers would also have difficulty attracting customers without competitive rates.

Companies, such as Apple, that operate such data centers, typically have high profit margins and can absorb the added power costs.

There have also been allegations that the City of Newark was not forthcoming in talking in its talks with Data Center staff and demanded another meeting that would allow for residents to directly question city and Data Center officials. The previous meeting featured written questions, which were submitted to a moderator, which also made opponents unhappy.

The Data Centers site is at the former location of the Chrysler plant, which had its share of noise during its more than half-century of existence.

The Data Centers states the plant will be a good neighbor with noise levels that would be no greater than a normal conversation.

State Reps. John Kowalko and Paul Baumbach, D-Newark, held a town hall-style forum on the project on Sept. 24 at the Newark High School Auditorium.

The Data Centers stated it was was not invited to the meeting, which according to published accounts was dominated by opponents to the project. It continued to pledge to work with the community on the project. Both representatives also sent out emails to constituents announcing the event, citing community concerns as the reason for the meeting.

The no power plant group held a demonstration on Saturday near the STAR campus site in an effort to let those attending the University of Delaware football game about what they view as problems with the project.

Concern has been growing in business and public policy circles that the opposition to the plant is poisoning the business climate a state that is seeing only a gradual recovery from steep job losses in 2009. – Doug Rainey

 

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