PLYMOUTH — August 25, 2026 — Confronted with escalating statewide concerns over power grid strain and heavy resource consumption, the Plymouth Select Board voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend a one-year zoning moratorium on standalone commercial data centers for the upcoming Fall Town Meeting warrant. The move gives municipal planners time to establish local safeguards before massive computational infrastructure projects can take root in the community.
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Deputy Director of Planning and Development Michael Silveira presented the proposed zoning amendment, designated as Article 16, which would institute a temporary halt from October 17, 2026, through October 16, 2027. The measure targets dedicated server farms and large-scale facilities while allowing ancillary data storage operations connected to primary uses, such as hospitals or research laboratories.
During the presentation, Silveira noted that municipalities across Massachusetts—including Lowell, Westfield, and Shutesbury—have enacted similar pauses to assess municipal exposure. Over the 12-month moratorium period, Plymouth’s Planning Board and Planning and Development Department intend to coordinate with Eversource and the municipal water department to analyze grid capacity, water demands, noise levels, and localized infrastructure impact before proposing permanent zoning regulations.
“I’m generally not in favor of prohibiting any type of business development in town, but I’ve done some research on these data centers, and in some cases, typically the ones that Mr. Canty was referring to, these giant AI farms, cause water quality issues for the community. They sometimes increase the cost of electricity for the neighboring communities. So I do think it’s a good use of our time to put a pause and figure out what a data center in Plymouth could look like...” — Select Board Member David Golden
