Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 21, 2026 17 Jacob Lucas, Eversource Energy's vice president of transmission system planning, speaks at a recent Hartford Business Journal energy event. HBJ Photo | Luke Wayne Photography Under Study Developers explore hyperscale data centers in CT despite pushback He said he could only speculate about why developers are consid- ering Connecticut. Established data center markets such as northern Virginia and Atlanta are becoming more constrained, pushing developers into regions they previously might have overlooked. Connecticut also sits along major fiber-optic routes that carry the bulk of the country's internet traffic, another factor in site selection. Lucas said Eversource currently serves roughly 150 smaller data centers across Connecticut, Massachu- setts and New Hampshire. Together, they account for about 400 megawatts of demand. Most use a few megawatts or less, and serve banks, hospitals, universities and military bases. The grid question None of the developers behind Eversource's hyperscale inquiries have proposed generating their own elec- tricity, Lucas said. That is notable because much of the public policy debate has focused on requiring large data centers to provide some of their own power or reduce demand during periods when electricity supplies are tight. That concern is becoming more urgent as electricity demand rises. ISO New England projects that the region's reserve margin — the cushion between available electricity supply and peak demand — will fall from 15% in 2029 to 8% in 2034. Eversource requires data center developers to pay the full cost of any grid upgrades their projects trigger, Lucas said. His larger concern is the wholesale electricity market, where additional demand could force the region to rely more frequently on expen- sive and less efficient power plants, increasing costs for other customers. "I see no way, from an energy afford- ability or electric reliability perspective, that other customers would benefit from a hyperscale data center," Lucas said. His concerns were echoed in May by Eversource CEO Joe Nolan, who told investors during an earnings call that he was "resisting data centers" in New England because they offered "no value" to customers and would drive energy costs higher. Eversource has no financial stake in whether a data center gets built. The utility earns regulated returns on the infrastructure it builds, not on the amount of electricity flowing through it. Policy pushback Concerns about costs and reliability have fueled data center pushback from policymakers in Connecticut and elsewhere. During his 2026 State of the State address in February, Lamont called for slowing data center development unless the facilities add generation, citing the pressure that rising demand is putting on the grid. He has been even more direct since. "I'm not allowing any of these hyper- scale data centers," Lamont said during a Sept. 1 interview with HBJ. "Northern Virginia has done 30 of them. We've done zero of them." By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com N o hyperscale data center has been formally proposed in Connecticut. None has come before a local land-use board, and none has signed an agreement to connect to the electric grid. But data center developers are inter- ested in Connecticut and have been quietly exploring whether such large- scale projects could work here. In fact, they are paying Eversource Energy to examine potential sites and estimate how much it would cost to connect them to the grid, according to Jacob Lucas, the utility's vice president of transmission system planning. Eversource defines a hyperscale data center as one that would connect directly to the high-voltage transmission system and use at least 100 megawatts. Until two years ago, the utility had not received a study request from a data center of that scale. Since then, Eversource has received more than 50, about half involving Connecticut sites, Lucas said. The potential electricity demand from hyperscale projects under study by Eversource across Connecticut, Massa- chusetts and New Hampshire has ranged from 1,000 to 5,000 megawatts, he said. At the high end, that would exceed twice the generating capacity of Connecticut's Millstone nuclear plant. Projects currently under study would require just over 1,000 megawatts combined, Lucas said. If they operated continuously at that level, they would use roughly as much electricity as 1 million typical Connecticut homes. "We are absolutely seeing more interest in Connecticut than any of our other service territories," Lucas said at a Hartford Business Journal energy conference Sept. 1 at the Society Room in Hartford. The interest comes despite the state's increasingly skeptical stance toward the industry. Gov. Ned Lamont has said he does not want hyperscale data centers in Connecticut unless developers add enough electricity generation to serve them. State lawmakers also consid- ered, but did not pass, a bill this year that would have eliminated the state's data center tax incentives. Several municipalities are considering restric- tions of their own. Still, developers are testing the market. Preliminary plans Paying for a study is only an early step in the development process. It does not mean a developer has committed to building a data center, Lucas said. Federal rules require Eversource to study any request to connect to the transmission system, and to tell the developer what the necessary upgrades would cost. "In no way, shape or form can we deny service," Lucas said. "We are obligated to study whatever requests they give us, even if they're bad." A handful of the paid study requests have advanced to the next step, in which developers begin negotiating connection agreements with Ever- source. That is the furthest any of the inquiries has progressed, Lucas said. Eversource determines what infra- structure would be needed to connect a project to the grid and how much the developer would have to pay. Large data centers generally need direct connections to high-voltage transmis- sion lines, making sites near that infra- structure less expensive to connect. The utility does not determine whether a project ultimately makes financial sense. "Viability is something we often can't prove," Lucas said. The companies approaching Ever- source are not household names. Data center developers typically build the facilities and sell computing capacity to technology companies such as Amazon, Google and Meta. Lucas said he was barred from identifying the developers or potential locations involved. Continued on next page

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