“Over 25MW” Isn’t Really About Power. A Signed Agreement Just Became the Front Door to Investment
When local approval and a CBA become prerequisites for permits, what can a printer sell before the press ever starts—by designing the explanation itself?
Massachusetts’ Executive Order No. 658 makes “local approval” and a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) prerequisites for permitting data centers over 25MW of peak demand. What matters isn’t the threshold. It’s that “agreement” has been upgraded from a nice-to-have appendix to a hard gate condition for capital. Once consensus-building is formalized, the ability to explain—clearly, publicly, and consistently—starts showing up as part of the cost of capital for plant siting and big equipment investment.
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The paper handed out at public meetings used to be “just printed matter.” From here on, it starts to look more like a component of the investment package—something you need in order to get permitted.
Massachusetts’ Executive Order No. 658 (EO 658) was signed and released by Governor Maura Healey on 2026-09-08. It targets data centers with peak power demand over 25MW. And it lays out a framework in which permitting bodies—MassDEP (Department of Environme…
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