New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wants to drop a $16.75 billion data center campus on a Massachusetts town of under 10,000 people, dangling millions in property tax revenue and lower tax bills for residents—but the power bill for keeping 900 megawatts of AI computing humming may end up on someone else's tab.
The Kraft Group, partnering with landowner Unified Global Packaging Group, has floated a plan to build 10 data center buildings in Sutton, Massachusetts by 2033. It would be the fourth-largest data center in the country, according to research firm Cleanview, as cited by the Boston Globe. Town Manager Austin Cyganiewicz estimated the first two buildings would generate $10.4 million annually in property taxes by fiscal 2031, rising to $27.8 million per year by 2035 with all buildings online. Because the town only raises what its budget requires, Cyganiewicz projected the average single-family home tax bill could drop roughly $2,300 in 2031 and $5,800 in 2035, according to CBS Boston.
That's the deal on the table. Here's what's not on the table yet: the cost of powering it.
The fully built campus would draw roughly 900 megawatts of electricity—comparable to a small city's entire demand. Developers say they are in talks with regional grid operator ISO New England about power supply and are exploring treated wastewater for cooling, according to CBS Boston. But no application has been filed. "Important details on power, water, equipment and site impacts are still to come," Cyganiewicz wrote in a memo to the Select Board.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued an executive order in September requiring data center developers to handle their own energy supply or pay into a ratepayer protection fund. "We can't have a situation where data centers are consuming more energy that's available on the grid at the expense of the rest of our businesses and our residents," Healey said, per CBS. The order also mandates community benefit agreements with host cities and towns.
Translation: the state already knows these projects shift costs onto existing ratepayers unless someone builds dedicated generation. The question is whether Kraft's group builds its own power—or taps the grid and lets everyone else pick up the tab.
Sutton residents aren't buying the pitch. At a packed Select Board meeting Tuesday, not one of the six people who spoke backed the project, the Boston Globe reported. Residents raised concerns about noise, generators, traffic, water, electricity use, and the cost burden on town services, NBC Boston reported. "I would like to see this process stopped tonight," Sutton resident Sarah Osterman Stone said, per the Globe.
Republican state Rep. Joseph McKenna, who represents the area, told CBS Boston the project "could prove to be a real boon for the community" but acknowledged he shares residents' worries about electricity rates, water, and noise. "I'm not willing to say no just because it's a scary project, it's new technology, there are concerns," he said.
The Daily Caller framed the story around the tax cut promise and resident resistance. Essentially Sports leaned into the environmental and resource concerns. The Anchorage Daily News, reporting on a separate project, showed how another state is handling the same gold rush: Alaska just approved a 50-year land lease for a natural gas-powered data center on the North Slope that would generate its own power off-grid and use arctic air for cooling, cutting water consumption by 90 percent compared to Lower 48 facilities. More than 1,200 public comments came in on that project—most in opposition—but Alaska's Department of Natural Resources approved it anyway, saying the lease serves the state's best interests.
The pattern is clear: billionaires and developers are racing to build AI infrastructure, and the public is expected to sort out the costs after the fact. In Sutton, no one from the Kraft Group, Healey's office, or Unified Global Packaging Group responded to press inquiries from either the Daily Caller or the Globe.
Sutton has a structural budget gap that could hit $9.1 million by fiscal 2033 if nothing changes, NBC Boston reported. The tax revenue from the Kraft project would more than cover it. But the town of Lowell, home to Massachusetts' current largest data center, already passed a one-year moratorium on new data center construction. "The goal wasn't to stop development, it was really to put everybody on a fair playing field and to protect the residents," Lowell City Councilor Kim Scott told WBUR.
A billionaire promises tax cuts. A town of 9,000 people gets to decide if the price is worth paying. The Select Board says no application has been filed. The details that matter—who builds the power plant, who pays for the grid upgrades, who guarantees the water supply—don't exist yet. Until they do, the only number that matters is the one nobody's putting on paper.
