Join us outside Holyoke City Hall to show the Mayor and City Council that we oppose more data centers in Holyoke! Bring signs and we’ll congregate outside. At 6:30, please join the ordinance meeting so our community can share our feedback and comments on public record.
Developers are proposing a $200 million data center for the vacant Hampden Papers complex at 100 Water St., in the Flats neighborhood. This single project is rated at 20 megawatts. That is the equivalent of roughly 15,000 homes, which is approximately the total number of occupied homes in all of Holyoke. Holyoke Gas and Electric generates around 75 megawatts at the peak of summer. This one building would swallow a quarter of that. A project like this leans on the entire grid and forces grid and infrastructure upgrades to accommodate it, and we know exactly who pays for that: Holyoke residents who are already struggling, through higher utility bills.
The proposed data center is privately owned, with no ties to our community to hold them accountable. The environmental impact of facilities like these is being seen through devastating effects around the country. Last month Rep. Ocasio-Cortez stood up in Congress holding jars of brown water from Morgan County Georgia sourced from homes next to a Meta data center. Families in Georgia are experiencing their taps running dry, with no pressure and no drinkable water for cooking or bathing. Families are importing bottled water just to live in their own homes, while their utility bills are climbing. In Lowell, residents have experienced more poor air quality as the air “feels gritty and heavy”. This is extremely concerning as Holyoke already experiences water quality mistrust and air pollution challenges, and this data center will worsen health conditions, environmental and climate conditions that the city is trying to address, as well as the the over-consumption of water and noise pollution.
We will get together to make it clear to the city officials: DO NOT BUILD THIS DATA CENTER IN OUR COMMUNITY!
We need to create a ban of future data centers and expansions of the current data center in the City of Holyoke.
Read more about how the data center in Lowell, MA has affected the community:
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/5/5/ai-data-center-lowell-water/
For more background information, please follow the news articles below:
* https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/holyoke-data-center-plan-sparks-debate-on-oversight-risks/
* https://www.westernmassnews.com/2026/06/03/proposed-data-center-sparks-controversy-holyoke/
* https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2026/06/developer-plans-200m-data-center-at-former-holyoke-paper-mill-we-have-the-power.html
*A core principle behind all Indivisible events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.*