A Aus$1 billion planned data center investment. A local government election leading to negotiations over the formation of a minority government. Objections by local residents backed by opposition Green and Liberal politicians. Accusations of bullying and vested interests. An investor ready to walk away. Add a neighbour keen to take advantage of the turmoil and you have the all the necessary ingredients for a soap opera. But one with potential ramifications for data center location decisions. It is being played out in Canberra, Australia.

There has been a lot of data center activity in Australia recently. The Aus$1.2 billion Polaris site is due to start operations by Christmas. Fujitsu has announced its plan for an environmentally friendly and energy efficient center near Perth in Western Australia and even Google is reported to have sent a high level delegation to scout out possible data center locations.
All good and positive news.
It may not have much water in parts but on almost every other criterion Australia is the ideal place to locate a data center. Australia has the power. It is a net energy exporter. It is a stable democracy. (Though in the case of Australia's Capital Territory this may be an overstatement.) It is close (relatively) to Asian economies. It has a skilled workforce. It has plenty of space.
All of which make it extraordinary that a planned Aus$1 billlion data center build has descended into a row to the point where it may be moved from Tuggeranong in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to New South Wales amid a flurry of accusations and counter claim from politicians, investors and locals. The controversial plan has become a political football with the incumbent Labor and opposition Liberal and Green political parties becoming heavily involved. Following a recent election the parties are negotiating over who will form the next minority government.
The row has ballooned this week after the development consortium said it would pull the plan in light of continuing objections from local residents who are being backed by the Green and Liberal Parties.
Technical Real Estate, which is a member of the consortium looking to build the data center is reported as saying that the project will most likely move to New South Wales. The latest news comes while an environmental impact study which had been demanded by Tuggeranong residents has yet to report.
The row has descended into the investors claiming it would be too costly to consider another Canberra site saying they had already spent $3 million, the Greens saying the investors are trying to strong arm the party by threatening to pull out and saying it would not accept the current proposed site whatever the impact report says. "We don't understand why [Technical Real Estate] are prepared to go overseas or interstate, but they are not prepared to move down the road," Green Party politician Amanda Bresnan said.
Technical Real Estate director Stephen Ellis, said it would be too costly to find another site in Canberra and the project would most likely move to NSW. "You've got to realise we've spent $3million so far pushing this development here in Canberra and my investors won't speculate. Looking at another site will cost a further $800,000," he said.
Liberal leader Zed Seselja said he stood by his commitment to fight the Mugga Lane proposal. This has been seized upon by at least one opportunist politician who has declared that NSW would be only too willing to have a data center built on its land. It was reported that the state MP for NSW has suggested the town of Cooma as an alternative location for the $1 billion data centre proposed for Tuggeranong.
Steve Whan says the town would welcome the project if it is blocked by the ACT Greens and the Canberra Liberals. "If a government comes in which decides to do that then I'd certainly be bidding for it to be in New South Wales," he said. "Then the New South Wales Government would, I'm sure, be willing to offer incentives for them to come to our area." Mr Whan says there is suitable land available for the center in Cooma's Polo Flat industrial area.
And there is a lot at stake. After the construction the proposed data center and power plant would contribute about $60 million a year and 400 jobs to the ACT economy. More than 200 jobs will be created in the construction phase.
And ACT Chamber of Commerce chief executive Chris Peters said: "I think it's Australian Capital Territory's businesses' worst nightmare. The data centre is history and we the community of Canberra are the losers of that. This impacts on the entire community by taking away those 300 jobs and the up to $1billion expenditure." Another report said that the dispute was further complicated because of the vested interests on both sides.
"The issue was handled very poorly by the ACT Government and the developers. Not only was Labor conflicted by having a financial interest in the development (through its ownership of Actew, which in turn owns 50 per cent of ActewAGL part of the development consortium) but it failed to keep a proper distance from the departmental process of site selection. The Government and developers clearly underestimated the extent to which residents in nearby Macarthur would oppose the data center in its site just off Mugga Lane. They failed to ensure the environmental impact study was above reproach, and then hurriedly altered the scale of the project in hopes of winning belated public approval.
What are the lessons to be learned?
Data centers have environmental impact. They are large construction projects and even the most efficient are energy hungry. That is not to say that data centers and green politics cannot co-exist. But when it becomes a battle about perceived business mendacity versus green intransigence then everyone loses.
Could you convince a powerful Green Party legislature that your data center is green?
Time for Green Realpolitik.

Some of the above quotes first appeared in the The Canberra Times where full and ongoing coverage continues.