Chattanooga may boast the fastest Internet in the land, but TVA is pitching other sites in the Tennessee Valley for data centers based on a new study of the best sites for computer, telecom and data storage businesses.
Deloitte Consulting, a Chicago-based company picked by TVA to assess the best sites for the growing data industry, identified a dozen “primary sites” in TVA’s seven-state region that are best suited to house data centers.
TVA will market the preferred data center sites identified by Deloitte to prospective industries just as the utility did with its automotive “megasite” program that helped lure Volkswagen to Chattanooga and Toyota to Tupelo, Miss.
The preferred properties include sites in Athens and Tullahoma, Tenn., and Scottsboro, Ala., along with nine others — but none in Chattanooga.
“We know this is a growth industry and, just as we did with the automotive industry moving into the Southeast, we’re just trying to get sites ready to capitalize on this growth,” said John Bradley, vice president of economic development for TVA.
Prime data centers* Consultants: TVA picked Deloitte Consultants to identify the best sites in the region from an independent analysis* Criteria: Fiber-optic links, reliable and affordable power, secure setting, developed utilities* Applicants: 50 sites around the Tennessee Valley* Primary site locations: Athens, Bristol, Fayetteville, Jackson, Lenoir City, Maryville, Murfreesboro and Tullahoma in Tennessee; Guntersville and Hartselle in Alabama; Duffield, Va., and Olive Branch, Miss.
“That’s not to say these are the only sites that data centers will go to because we know there are a lot of communities like Chattanooga that are going after data centers themselves,” he said.
Deloitte analyzed about 50 sites and selected the 12 that met all of its criteria. Because data centers are designed to be in secure settings away from the risk of any accidents or flooding, the preferred sites picked by Deloitte were not near any railroads, chemical plants or in low-lying areas or within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant.
That ruled out most of Hamilton County because of TVA’s Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Lakesite, said J. Ed. Marston, vice president for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
“But we still think Chattanooga is a very attractive area for data centers,” he said.
EPB, the city-owned utility, launched the nation’s first gigabit-speed Internet service in August. Such service is 200 times faster than most broadband speeds.
Former Chattanooga Mayor Jon Kinsey, a Chattanooga developer who is heading up a Lyndhurst Foundation-funded task force to promote Chattanooga’s gigabit Internet service, said companies and developers are already looking at the city to locate data storage, telecommunications and computer facilities.
“I don’t think there is any question that we’ll see data centers locating in Chattanooga,” Kinsey said. “We’re an attractive place for these type of businesses and, with the fastest Internet service anywhere and a great quality of life, we offer a lot of advantages for companies.”
DATA CENTER DEMAND
Global demand for data centers is expected to rise 12 percent next year and 17 percent in 2012, according to a consulting study by Tieri Research.
Bradley said the entire region is more favorable for data centers since TVA revamped its electricity rate structure in 2008 to give energy-intensive data centers access to more favorable industrial rates.
Many data centers, Bradley said, use from 30 to 60 megawatts of electricity, or as much as a typical automobile plant.
“These are high-skilled, high-paying jobs and they tend to run 24 hours a day,” Bradley said. “There are all kinds of data centers in different size and shapes.”
One of the sites identified by the Deloitte consultants is in the I-75 industrial park in Athens, Tenn., near the Denso Manufacturing Co.
Earl Newberry, general manager for the Athens Utilities Board, said the site is served by both Comcast and AT&T. The city-owned utility also has a fiber-optic link to the site as part of its communication links for its electric and wastewater treatment systems.
“With the high unemployment now in our area, we want to do what we can to help entice a data center and the good-paying jobs it would bring to our area,” Newberry said.