The Data Centers project made a return appearance at the Newark City Council meeting, Monday night. The project been proposed for a portion of the University of Delaware Star Campus at the former Chrysler assembly plant. The final cost could total $1.1 billion
The site would include banks of computer servers with a natural gas-fired power plant providing what developers say is 100 percent “up time” for availability of massive amounts of data that need to be available online. About 20 percent of power generated could be sold on the PJM grid market.
Those speaking both for and against the plant have continued to use the public comments portion of the council meeting to air their views. A call to action to attend the meeting was issued on the No Newark Power Plant website and the Delaware Way blog, operated by Nancy Willing, who also spoke against the project.
The ferocity of the opposition has led some business and government leaders to worry that the state now has the reputation of being “closed for business” during a period of slow economic growth.
Some speakers defended Data Centers, based in West Chester, Pa. One called the Data Centers a “lifeline” for city residents who are likely to see higher taxes and fees in coming years. Harry Gravell, who heads the Delaware Building Trades Council and who serves as an officer in the state AFL-CIO, said the power plant would not be as large as critics suggest.
Later Ken Grant, who is leading an effort to promote the project as a source of jobs spoke in favor, citing the need to meet the future needs of an online world in need of constant access to everything from bank accounts to medical records. Grant has launched a blog on the project.
But backers were outnumbered by opponents like Amy Roe, who is running for mayor in a crowded field after the resignation of long time Mayor Vance Funk. Roe, a long time critic of the Newark electric utility, demanded a moratorium that would halt the project, which does not have any plans before the city.
It remains unclear as to how much say the city has over the project, given the fact that it is located at the site of a former auto assembly plant that is owned by the University of Delaware.
Council members have vowed to listen to the concerns of residents, but weariness over the controversy was apparent. Council members listened patiently to the complaints, with many speakers coming from the Third Council District, which is near the proposed site of the center.
The council and city staff have been under fire for what critics claim was a lack of transparency about the project, which was first reported last spring by the Business Bulletin.
Opposition did not pop up until the summer as word of the project spread and a controversy cropped up regarding a Wawa on Elkton Road. Funk said the controversy over the project contributed to his decision to retire as opponents wore plackards, put up yard signs and left stinging e- mails regarding the proposed convenience store-gas station near his home. Funk has since moved to Main Street.
One resident said those living near the proposed data center were feeling “beat up,” by out of town union members and business interests talking up the project and others who claim residents do not care about jobs.
Two speakers said Newark is in relatively good economic shape and did not need the construction and operating jobs. At least two speakers questioned the presence of yard signs outside the Newark Municipal Building in support of the project, Others claimed property values would drop.
At times, resentment bubbled up against the university, with one speaker tearing what he said was a contribution request.
Rarely was the term data center used by speakers who focused on the power plant portion of the project, describing it in terms usually reserved for coal or nuclear plants.
One speaker went so far as to bring a device with recorded noise to the speaker’s podium that he claimed represented the noise level that would come from the power plant.
In one detailed presentation, a speaker claimed wages paid by non executives would be a little over $40,000 a year, a figure that would do little to aid the economy. Others described Newark as a residential community that no longer needed industry and would attract residents with its high-quality lifestyle.
I was at that meeting, and every meeting since this all came out. Your reporter is quite biased as are all the leftists newsies in this state that cater to Jack Markell. Markell has shown the utmost disrespect to the people of Newark who oppose having their air polluted by this power plant. The UDE’s own professors of mechanical engineering are showing up at these meetings and expressing their concerns. It is the city of Newark and their City Manager who are responsible for this mess. If the people had been informaed in 2011, when this first came up and the Data Centers had heeded the recommendation of DNREC in very large letters that transparency with the community is a must for this type of project, we recommended that you inform the community as soon as possible. And yet, our governor, who was elected by the people, not the out of state owners of the Data Centers, LLC says “It goes like this, you don’t have to run everything by the people” – what a asinine statement to the people who pay your salary!
The project was first reported on this website in spring 2013 and shortly thereafter noted in the Newark Post.There was little response until summer.
Doug, $1.1 billion is a lot of money. Where is the money coming from? Even if they reveal the names of the venture capital firm(s), we will not know what people or corporations invested the money. These investors will be the true owners of the power plant. To me, it seems likely that NRG or some other power corporation is the major investor, and will therefore be the true owner.
No individual or company would invest in a billion dollar data center that has no clients, no contracts and management with no previous experience in large data centers. It is also not likely that the near empty data center will use much power at all.
On the other hand, this is a golden opportunity for a power company to build a plant in a populated area without having to get the normal approvals or be regulated by the Public Service Commission.
I would be less skeptical if I knew the names of all of the investors. I also hope that the State of Delaware doesn’t waste a few million of our tax dollars on this scheme. Please follow the money. There is something not right about this.