Data Centers in Rockland County

Across the country, AI data centers are popping up like weeds in suburban and rural towns. With these data centers, concerns around utilities, water supply, and job creation follow. Rockland County plays host to the JPMorganChase Datacenter, among others, in Orangetown. Located at the former Psych Center, the existing JP Morgan and Chase data center is set to expand, introducing a grand total of one permanent job to the community while taking $77 million in tax breaks and subsidies. The existing data center guarantees five protected jobs at the facility plus consultants. The new expansion would see the highest amount of subsidies and tax breaks per permanent job anywhere in the country. 

Data centers like this are springing up everywhere land and resources can be found and the people living in the communities they pop up in are feeling the weight of these facilities first hand. Many have reported dramatic increases in electric bills and water bills since data centers have been built in their towns. According to Bloomberg, electricity bills in places with recently built data centers have seen a 276% increase in electricity costs.

Rocklanders already pay 33% more in electricity costs than the national average, and the introduction of more large scale data centers will only add to that bill. Since 2020, energy costs in the NY/NJ metro area have risen from an average of $0.20 per Kilowatt-Hour to $0.26 per Kilowatt-Hour. Rocklanders are being squeezed out of their homes due to the ongoing affordability crisis, and the introduction of a data center like the one being built by JPMorganChase raises concerns that Rockland will only become more unaffordable. 

Putting aside the monetary aspect, data centers have also been linked to pollution and a decrease in water supply within the communities they are built in. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, large scale data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day, equal to the amount of daily water usage of 50,000 – 100,000 people. Data centers are also linked to increased noise and air pollution. 

Electricity usage is one of the primary issues facing Rockland’s residents and others around the Hudson Valley. The closure of the Indian Point nuclear plant has left a gap in our electric grid currently being filled by fossil fuels and other unsustainable methods of producing power. If recent trends are any indication, the prospect of a massive expansion to the JP MorganChase could put even more strain on our electrical grid, with the average Rockland resident set to foot the bill.