Computer data center proposed for warehouse complex in Yaphank

The developer of a large complex of warehouses on the Long Island Expressway in Yaphank has filed paperwork to build a computer data center at the property that would draw enormous amounts of power — around half the energy capacity of the nearby Caithness power plant, according to filings.

The property, developed by Manhattan-based WF Industrial XII, would, if approved, continually draw some 176.6 megawatts of power from a local LIPA substation and have additional emergency backup capacity with diesel-fueled generators, according to the filing with the New York Independent System Operator, which manages the state power grid.

The $162 million property consists of three main warehouses on a 71-acre campus, but it's unclear how much would be used for the data center. WF Industrial representatives didn't return messages seeking comment. 

Data centers, server farms and other big-tech operations that draw massive amounts of energy are popping up across the county as big-tech firms seek to expand their reach and computing power, including using burgeoning Artificial Intelligence applications.

The project at the Brookhaven Logistics Center proposes to be in service by January 2027, according to the filing. It would draw around half the proposed 176.6 megawatts of required power in its first year of operation and expand to the full amount by the following year, the filing noted. A megawatt powers up to 1,000 homes. 

The facility would be among Long Island’s largest single-site power consumers and perhaps the first of a new generation of data centers planned for the region, although another has been proposed for Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The 550,000-square-foot center would be subject to a subtenant lease review by the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency, but to date the agency has not received an application from the developer, also known as Wildflower Ltd. Wildflower’s leasing agents were unable to discuss the plan.

Despite the facility’s large proposed power draw, which is around half the capacity of the Caithness power plant in Yaphank, rated at 350 megawatts, the Long Island Power Authority doesn’t anticipate a shortfall in powering the facility. LIPA recently reported it has nearly 1,000 megawatts of excess capacity on peak-demand days.

LIPA spokeswoman Jennifer Hayen, in a statement, said the authority was "confident in our ability to meet the [electric] load should it come online."

Brookhaven Town spokesman Drew Scott said while the town has not received any filings from the developer as of this week, the project described in the NYISO filing may require a "Change of Use" application from the original application.

"We would require a Short Environmental Assessment form," Scott wrote in an email. In any case, he added, "As long as the power is available or can be made available from LIPA, we would not consider that level of electric draw to be a significant impact to the environment."

Newsday in April reported Brookhaven National Laboratory is being considered for a 90-acre-plus AI data center primarily at the Upton campus, according to federal filings that noted it’s in "close proximity of the existing Caithness Long Island Energy Center, which could be the site of a new 750-megawatt gas turbine plant for the data center."

Microsoft has been working with Constellation Energy to open an AI data center powered by a reactor at Three Mile Island, the Pennsylvania nuclear plant that experienced a partial meltdown at one of its reactors in 1979. South Carolina utility Santee Cooper is reportedly seeking buyers in high tech to finish construction of two mothballed nuclear reactors.

The NYISO queue of projects that includes the Brookhaven project also include proposed data centers in Westchester, St. Lawrence, Erie, Niagara and Onondaga , which would each require several hundred megawatts of power from the state grid. One called the Arsenal Data Site 1000 by Arconic Corp. would itself draw about 1,000 megawatts.

The 176.6 megawatts to be drawn by Brookhaven Logistics Center would be among the largest single-site power-load facilities on Long Island, where LIPA's biggest users such as the LIRR are considerably more spread out.

The payment schedule to the IDA for the facility includes a first-year payment in lieu of taxes from WF Industrial of just over $40,000, rising to around $177,181 in the third year, $553,039 in the fifth, and just over $2 million by the 12th year.

The center’s proposed use is already drawing concern from residents. Kerim Odekon of Brookhaven expressed concern the facility would "add significantly to existing fossil fuel demand, and it will involve loud and dirty backup diesel generators."

Odekon also wondered if the facility’s conversion to a data center and the potentially fewer workers data centers tend to employ would allow it to meet employment levels in its IDA agreement of up to 191 workers. WF’s 2022 application for the facility, which cost $162 million to develop and build, anticipated employing 170 full time and 21 part-time workers.

Lisa Mulligan, chief executive of the Brookhaven IDA, said the agency has yet to receive notice or an application from the developer about a data center. "If they bring it to us, we’ll open the books to see if there’s anything we have to adjust, if appropriate," she said. 

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.