Massachusetts’ largest reported data center proposals in 2026 are a lesson in the difference between a planned megawatt and one actually available to computing equipment. The state’s leading documented individual-site power figures are the 274 MW Westfield Servistar proposal, the 20 MW Chestnut River proposal in Holyoke, and the existing Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC), whose grid draw is permitted up to 12 MW. These are not three active construction projects: Westfield’s permit extension was rejected, Holyoke prohibited the new proposal, and MGHPCC is an operating scientific computing center.

Methodology: This is a transparent ranking of the largest publicly attributable individual-site electrical power figures identified in the reviewed Massachusetts record, including historic proposals and operating facilities. The third entry is the largest independently confirmed operating-site power allowance in this shortlist, not a claim that no other Massachusetts facility has more capacity. Many major Boston and Lowell data centers do not disclose comparable utility MW, so an exhaustive statewide ranking by power cannot yet be established. Proposed full-buildout demand, planned project load and permitted grid draw are not identical measures.

3. Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, Holyoke — Up to 12 MW Permitted Grid Draw

The Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center is an established nonprofit scientific computing facility used by researchers at Harvard, MIT, the University of Massachusetts, Northeastern, Boston University and Yale. Unlike the two larger proposals, this facility is operating. WBUR reported September 11, 2026 that MGHPCC is permitted to draw up to 12 MW from the electricity grid and was using less than its maximum allowance. The 12 MW is a grid-draw permit ceiling, not a claimed measurement of current servers or IT load.

The Holyoke center was exempted from the city’s new-data-center restrictions. Its existing building demonstrates how hydropower-heavy local electricity, outside-air cooling and carefully managed server temperatures can support academic workloads. A 12 MW draw maintained for 24 hours would correspond to 288 MWh, but that is an illustrative maximum-rate calculation rather than observed daily consumption. Its actual operating draw was reported below the permit ceiling.

2. Chestnut River Power, Holyoke — 20 MW Proposed; Stalled

A separate 20 MW data center proposal at 100 Water Street by Chestnut River Power and Infrastructure prompted debate about new AI computing facilities in Holyoke. On June 16, 2026, the City Council voted 9–4 for a zoning restriction on new AI data centers above 12 MW, exempting the existing MGHPCC. The developer subsequently said it was reviewing the city’s decision rather than announcing an operational facility. The Hampden County project record tracks the proposal as stalled. A October 27, 2026 city-council report confirms Holyoke is still studying future policy and potential economic, power and water impacts.

The 20 MW figure is the proposed new center’s power scale, not an existing grid connection or commissioned computing capacity. The city’s June ordinance must not be confused with a statewide Massachusetts ban, and MGHPCC’s exemption does not authorize the proposed new site.

1. Servistar Data Center Campus, Westfield — 274 MW Proposed; Permit Extension Denied

Servistar Realties proposed a 10-building campus across more than 150 acres in Westfield. The development’s reported 274 MW full-buildout electricity demand would have made it one of New England’s largest single data center plans. The Boston Globe reported that power requirement in September. It was not an energized facility: Servistar had not purchased the site land, and its initial 2021 permit remained unexercised.

In August 2025, WWLP-22News reported on the developer’s earlier expectation that state tax incentives might support construction. That older report is included below as contemporary evidence of what was proposed, not as proof that the project moved forward.

Video: WWLP-22News, “Tax change lifts plans for ‘hyperscale’ data center campus in Westfield,” August 22, 2025. The report predates the October 2026 permit decision.

On October 13, 2026, Westfield’s planning board voted unanimously against extending Servistar’s special permit, citing lack of progress and procedural defects. New England Public Media, via WBUR, documented that the developer had not purchased the land and had allowed its LLC registration to lapse. The project also faced a separate one-year city moratorium on new data centers. Servistar retained a legal appeal window, but the 274 MW must be treated as a rejected historic proposal, not operating load. Boston.com’s October 16 report details the decision.

What the Massachusetts Numbers Actually Mean

Westfield’s 274 MW was planned full-buildout demand; Holyoke’s 20 MW was a proposed project; MGHPCC’s 12 MW is an existing grid import allowance. These figures are not interchangeable with critical IT power, generation capacity, or measured energy consumption. The major Markley Group data center in Lowell and other Massachusetts facilities are not ranked here because their comparable site MW figures could not be independently established in the reviewed public record. The statewide site inventory lists several facilities with blank power values, illustrating the gap.

For readers comparing states, the contrast with Maryland’s gigawatt-scale proposals and Maine’s canceled or paused developments is instructive: a large announced MW number does not establish utility service, permitting, construction, or an operating data center. A future revision should include verified utility or developer power disclosures for Lowell, Boston, Needham and Billerica before treating the state’s top three as exhaustive.

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