Politicians Pile On Calls For Moratorium As Data Centers Talks In Bow Confirmed

By AARON R. DAVIS, InDepth NH

BOW, NH — State lawmakers and local officials were quick to call for a moratorium on data center development as rumors were confirmed that a private company is looking to build a data center in Bow.

The news was initially reported by the Concord Monitor, which cited an unnamed town official in Bow had confirmed there were “high-level discussions” with a company about bringing a data center to the town.

The statement links up with a confirmed application from Eversource and Granite Shore Power to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a viability study for an up to 350-megawatt interconnection at the Merrimack Station, a coal-fired power plant that ceased operations in September 2025 and was due for retirement in 2028. Granite State Power currently owns the 345-acre Merrimack Plant site and lists its business address there.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte said she will be introducing a moratorium against Artificial Intelligence data centers in the state’s next budget because “we don’t have the energy to do it,” and said she wants to bring electric prices down, not up.

Speaking at the end of the Executive Council meeting in Durham Wednesday, the Republican, who is running for re-election responded to concerns of Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon, that she has heard a data center is being considered for Bow.

“I don’t support that, in fact I will be including a moratorium in HB 2 because we don’t have the energy to do that. I want to reduce energy prices and the amount of energy a data center takes will raise energy costs and I can’t support that,” Ayotte said.

Cinde Warmington who is running in Democratic primary for governor, said with Bow now confirmed as the site for a potential data center, she is reiterating her calls for a statewide data center moratorium and community protections.

“On Day One, Cinde will issue an executive order placing a temporary moratorium on large-scale data centers. During this pause, Cinde will champion a regulatory framework built around a Community Bill of Rights that protects Granite Staters, makes sure data centers pay their fair share, and ensures the quality of drinking water.

“Kelly Ayotte has accepted nearly $138,000 from the data center industry while running for governor. Granite Post reporting detailed how the developer behind the proposed data center in Nottingham — which sparked community uproar — previously donated to Ayotte.

“Last year, Ayotte signed legislation that would encourage development of data centers and “make the state more attractive to the cryptocurrency industry.” Proposals aimed at making sure data centers pay their fair share for power usage and equip communities with the tools needed to fight back against data centers all died while Ayotte looked the other way,” according to Warmington’s news release.

Executive Councilor Liot Hill, said: “Waiting for a moratorium on large-scale AI data centers until the next state budget takes effect in July 2027 is too late. Discussions about a massive data center in Bow are happening now. New Hampshire should act now.”

“The Governor has the executive authority to put an immediate temporary moratorium in place or to call the Legislature into special session to enact one. The Legislature had an opportunity to enact a moratorium earlier this year and failed to do so. We shouldn’t wait another ten months to correct that mistake. From electric rates to water resources, the stakes for our state are high,” Liot Hill said.

Bow Selectboard Chair Kip McDaniel declined to speak on the issue and referred reporters to a statement on the town’s Facebook page that confirmed the town has been having talks with a private business that has shown interest in building a data center there.

“No proposal has been submitted to the Town. There is nothing before the Planning Board, and nothing concrete for residents to react to yet,” the statement began.

McDaniel wrote that, should the business continue down the path of this kind of development in town, there would be public hearings and opportunities for residents to make their voice heard.

McDaniel did not respond to questions about the timeline of events and when the city was first contacted by the private business.

Eversource spokesman William Hinkle said: “Eversource only delivers power, does not generate it, and does not develop data centers; we are obligated to respond to all proposals from developers – whether data centers, solar, or otherwise – to provide information and conduct studies or assessments as requested for potential projects; and we have no role in determining whether potential projects are allowed to interconnect to our system if developers are willing to incur specific associated costs – including for studies, assessments, and necessary infrastructure upgrades – and if those projects receive required local, state and federal approvals in the future.

“We are also transparent in responding to requests for information, especially from state officials, and certain detailed information consistent with what was recently shared with state officials about one such potential project has been publicly available on FERC’s website since April when a viability assessment agreement was filed. We have consistently maintained that we are concerned about the potential negative impacts of large-load users on affordability and reliability for customers, but we must always fulfill our legally required obligations as an energy service provider when receiving requests from potential developers and we will always transparently provide information to state officials, consistent with any legal or confidentiality requirements.”

Backlash in New Hampshire to data centers has been swift, as when an InDepthNH article alerted residents to a proposed data center in Nottingham in May and a crowd of protestors greeted the town planning board not long after.

When news of the preliminary discussions broke, politicians were swift to issue calls for a moratorium on data center construction until more can be understood about the impacts.

“Bow residents deserve clear answers about discussions that could have major consequences for our town,” Rep. Eleana Colby (D-Bow) said in a statement Wednesday morning. “Granite Shore Power must disclose where this project could be located, what demands it would place on our power and water systems, and who would pay the costs for not just those resources, but also our municipal resources.”

House Democrats issued a statement that they will propose a 24-month moratorium on data center development while the state establishes clear standards for the industry. Rep. Tom Cormen (D-Lebanon) sponsored both proposals and released a statement on Wednesday:

“New Hampshire should not hand massive corporations a blank check and leave Granite Staters to deal with the consequences. As other states have shown, large data centers can raise our electric rates, strain our land, water, and energy resources, threaten our environment, and bring industrial noise and development close to people’s homes.”

The proposals, LSR 2027-0002 and LSR 2027-0048, would be filed in the 2027 legislation session, would establish a moratorium on data centers and create a threshold of 30 megawatts after which facilities have to bear the costs of the grid costs they create. Cormen sits on the House Science, Technology and Energy committee.

A spokesperson for ISO-New England confirmed that there are only two projects in its large-load forecast that are in the formal study process and one is a Massachusetts data center, the other is electrification in Connecticut.

While New England hasn’t seen data center development on the same scale as other areas of the country, ISO-NE believes that the area needs to be ready just in case.

“In response to a recent order from our federal regulator, ISO New England is developing proposals aimed at protecting power system reliability and avoid shifting the costs of serving new large loads to consumers,” said Mary Cate Colapietro, senior communications specialist for ISO-NE. “Among those are a proposal that large loads not be counted towards the region’s capacity requirement and that new large loads bring new capacity to the system to meet their electricity needs. These proposals are aimed at ensuring that the region has enough resources to meet consumer electricity demand.”

Colapietro noted that ISO is aware of the news account of the data center for Bow and said that any request for a transmission service for a large load under study by the ISO would be listed in the public queue at https://irtt.iso-ne.com/reports/external. Currently there are no active transmission service type requests in the state.

Reporter Paula Tracy contributed to this report

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.