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Sutton Weighs $16 Billion, 900-Megawatt Data Center Campus Backed by Kraft Group
A proposed 10-building data center campus in Sutton could cut the average homeowner's tax bill by thousands, but residents and officials still lack key details on power, water and environmental impacts.
SUTTON, Mass. â A sprawling data center campus backed by the Kraft Group and United Global Packaging Group could reshape this small Worcester County town, bringing a promised $27.8 million in annual tax revenue â and a host of unresolved questions about energy and water use.
The $16 billion proposal, first detailed in a memo from Town Manager Austin Cyganiewicz to the Select Board, calls for 10 buildings on land off Boston Road and Providence Road that would draw roughly 900 megawatts of power. Both companies behind the project are affiliated with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
The Select Board was scheduled to discuss the plan Tuesday night. Cyganiewicz stressed that the project remains in its earliest stages.
"The proposal is tentative," he wrote. "No application has been filed, and important details on power, water, equipment and site impacts are still to come."
Under the current timeline, the first two buildings would open in 2029, with two more coming online each year through 2033.
The financial pitch is striking for a town of just under 10,000 people. Once fully built out, the campus would generate $27.8 million in tax revenue â nearly matching Sutton's entire 2027 tax levy of $32 million. Because the town raises only what its budget requires, officials say the windfall would translate into lower property tax bills: about $2,300 less for the average single-family home in fiscal 2031 and roughly $5,800 less in fiscal 2035.
But data centers have become a flashpoint nationally over the enormous electricity and water resources they consume, particularly as demand for artificial intelligence computing surges. Developers have told the town they are negotiating with regional grid operator ISO New England to secure power and are exploring the use of treated wastewater for cooling.
The proposal lands amid a broader policy shift in Massachusetts. In September, Gov. Maura Healey issued an executive order requiring data center developers to negotiate community benefit agreements with host cities and towns, and to either supply their own energy or pay a fee that returns costs to taxpayers. The state also paused tax breaks for data centers in June.
Neither the town of Sutton nor the Kraft Group responded to requests for comment.
For residents, the coming months will likely bring pressure to weigh the promise of relief on property tax bills against concerns about strain on the power grid, water supplies and local infrastructure â details town officials acknowledge have yet to be worked out.