Gov. Kelly Ayotte is against “putting any data center in the state of New Hampshire” and plans to include a likely multi-year moratorium in her upcoming budget, she said Wednesday.
But the governor’s proposed moratorium would not go into effect until after next year’s budget is passed, at least July 2027. An executive order could impose a ban sooner.
At the end of Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting, the governor said she was against a potential hyperscale data center coming to Bow, in part because the state lacks the energy supply for such a facility. Hyperscale data centers are massive operations facilities that can be used to power Artificial Intelligence. State and town officials have not shared the site and size of the center proposed in Bow.
“I want to reduce energy prices and the amount of energy a data center takes will raise energy costs in the state of New Hampshire, and I can't support that,” Ayotte said. She said the head of ISO-New England confirmed that a large data center would raise energy prices in New Hampshire and across New England.
In speaking with reporters after the meeting, Ayotte said she thinks the potential moratorium should last for “a period of years” so the state has time to investigate potential energy impacts, as well environmental concerns including water and noise pollution.
The state’s consumer advocate Don Kreis shared plans for a feasibility study in Bow earlier this week. The exact site of the proposed site remains unconfirmed, but according to public filings to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Eversource Energy will conduct the study at the request of Granite Shore Power, LLC, which owns the former coal-fired power plant in the town that ceased operation last year.
Ayotte said she has not spoken to anyone in Bow, but even if the town wants a data center, she would oppose it because the facility would lead to higher energy bills.
Ayotte, who is running for re-election, said last month that she now supports a state moratorium on data centers in New Hampshire, as voters in several municipalities, including Nottingham and Rochester, have been considering local moratoriums, in absence of any clear state regulations.
Democrats in the State House announced Wednesday that they plan to propose legislation for the 2027 session to impose a 24-month moratorium on data center development in the state.
