Make No Mistake: Connecticut Cannot Afford to Subsidize the AI Data Center Boom on the Backs of Working Families

Generative AI is here to stay, and with it comes surging demand for data centers that will reshape communities across Connecticut. Meeting this demand, however, must not come at any cost, and certainly not by shifting billions in massive expenses onto the backs of Connecticut taxpayers and ratepayers.

Our own Legislature has aggressively incentivized data center development. Thanks to legislation backed by Democratic leadership and Senator James Maroney, data centers qualify for generous property tax exemptions - long-term subsidies that let these high-value facilities contribute far less while homeowners and businesses shoulder rising property taxes year after year.

The energy and water demand of these facilities are staggering. A single large data center can consume as much electricity as tens of thousands of households and up to 5 million gallons of water per day for cooling, equivalent to the daily usage of a town of 10,000–50,000 people.

Across the U.S., data centers already strain local grids and water systems, driving up costs that utilities inevitably pass along to customers. In Connecticut, with our already high energy prices, the impact would be especially painful: billions in needed upgrades to electric and water infrastructure, all ultimately landing on your bills.

Communities nationwide are pushing back. New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently imposed a statewide moratorium on large data center facilities precisely to study and mitigate these impacts. Over 100 municipalities across the country have enacted pauses or outright bans. Right here at home, New Haven is considering putting in a 12-month pause and West Haven has put in a pause.

Connecticut should follow this lead, not race ahead with subsidies that favor corporations while ignoring the strain on our grid and wallets. That is why I strongly applaud local leaders putting in moratoriums on data center developments.

But a one-year pause doesn’t stop the tax break these data centers could receive. If elected to the State Senate, one of my first actions will be to introduce legislation for a statewide moratorium on new data centers and to eliminate the tax incentive. We must first develop a comprehensive, long-term energy policy that delivers cheaper, more reliable power for families and businesses, not one that prioritizes utility companies and Big Tech at your expense.

We can support innovation and economic growth without saddling Connecticut residents with higher taxes, skyrocketing electricity and water bills, and an unreliable grid. It's time to hit pause, get smart about energy planning, and put taxpayers and our communities first.