The planning and zoning commission narrowly voted to recommend that the borough assembly approve a lease with Greensparc, which is looking to build a small-scale data center on borough-owned property at the former 6-Mile Mill site.

The vote on Jan. 22 was 3-2 in favor of the motion, after almost two hours of public testimony, answers from Greensparc’s founder and discussion among commissioners.

Much of the public testimony and commission discussion questioned whether the location was the best site for a data center, and how the facility’s power demands could affect the availability and cost of electricity to residential and business customers in town, particularly at times when the Tyee hydroelectric plant goes offline and the community needs to conserve power.

“It just seems strange to be starting a business that consumes a lot of power,” said Commissioner Gary Watkins, when there are times that the municipality asks residents to conserve electricity during extreme cold spells when the Tyee plant is near its maximum output.

Greensparc has explained that it plans to install backup batteries for an orderly shutdown of its computer servers when power is lost. It does not plan to install diesel generators at the site.

The Southeast Alaska Power Agency, which operates the Tyee hydro power plant for Wrangell and Petersburg, plans to install a third generator at Tyee next year, boosting its peak capacity by 50%.

Greensparc founder and chief executive officer Sam Enoka, participating in the planning and zoning commission meeting by Zoom, said the company relies on utilities to help them select the best location for their data centers. The availability of power and connection to transmission lines “helps guide us where we want to land.”

He added, “We’re open if there is guidance that points us to another location” rather than the 6-Mile site.

The 6-Mile property has its own dedicated circuit, which can operate without overloading feeders that serve the rest of the community, Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director, told the commission.

Commission Chair Terri Henson said it would be less expensive to put the data center at 6-Mile, working off the dedicated line, rather than building a new line at a different location.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” said Commissioner Jill Privett, adding, “but I am not sold on the location.”

The borough’s economic development board held a long discussion at a public meeting earlier this month before voting 5-0 to recommend assembly approval of the lease.

At the planning and zoning meeting, Henson and Privett voted to recommend assembly approval of the lease, as did Commissioner Apryl Hutchinson. Commissioners Watkins and Kathleen St. Clair voted no.

The commission’s recommendation included the conditions that “utility extensions, infrastructure responsibilities and service capacity shall be addressed through subsequent agreements and permitting processes.”

Water and sewer lines end just north of the property, according to a staff report presented to the commission. “Extension and coordination of utilities will be required as redevelopment of the site proceeds and will be addressed through future agreements and permitting processes.”

The lease, if it is approved by the assembly, does not allow construction, which would be subject to separate land-use review and permitting.

The company is looking at putting up a 10,000-square-foot building. The data center would draw 1 or 2 megawatts of power, Enoka said in an earlier interview, less than one-tenth of a percent of the electricity demand of the world’s largest data centers.

Greensparc installed an even smaller data center last year in Cordova — the company’s first such investment. Wrangell would be its second.

The company would lease an acre or two of the 42 borough-owned acres at 6-Mile.

The proposed data center is part of the borough’s plan to develop the former mill site as a deepwater industrial port with multiple commercial tenants. In addition to Greensparc, borough officials are working with JAG Marine Group to possibly put up a shipbuilding and marine repair facility at the site, and with Alaska Marine Lines to relocate its freight operations away from the downtown waterfront.