Data centers in New London County, Connecticut: 2 projects mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

New London County has been the stage for most of Connecticut's hyperscale data center plans since the state passed a 2021 tax break waiving property and sales taxes for 20 years on data centers investing $200 million or more, and none of them has been built. The appeal was the Millstone nuclear power station in Waterford, the only nuclear plant in the state. The developers were two rival start-ups: GotSpace Data Partners, which proposed campuses in Groton, Bozrah, Norwich and Griswold, and NE Edge, founded in December 2021 by GotSpace's former co-owner Thomas Quinn. Bozrah rejected GotSpace's plans, partly over doubts about the company's stability, and what remains of GotSpace has filed a $30 billion lawsuit against NE Edge, the town of Groton and dozens of others that has barely moved.

Groton turned both away. In March 2022 its town council voted 5-1 against a host agreement for NE Edge's two 250,000-square-foot buildings near Interstate 95; Councilor Aundré Bumgardner said he "heard a resounding no from the public" and added "with prejudice" to the motion. After a year-long moratorium, the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously banned data centers larger than 12,500 square feet, about the size of Pfizer's on-site facility. The landowner who had agreed to sell NE Edge 168 acres on Hazelnut Hill and Flanders roads for $5.25 million sued the town for more than $2 million.

In Waterford, NE Edge and Dominion Energy signed a host fee agreement in March 2023 for a 300-megawatt, 1.5-million-square-foot campus on the Millstone site drawing power directly from the plant, paying $231 million over 30 years in place of property taxes. Residents raised concerns about noise, traffic, fire risk and flooding at the site, and the Connecticut Siting Council refused Dominion's request to hand approval to the town. The proposal has since been dropped. The only company to use the tax break so far is Cigna, which reported $863 million of investment for five new jobs.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.