AI data centres to self-administer funds in Tasmanian community deal

Tasmanian data centre proponents would each run their own community benefit funds under a proposal from the state government.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff announced his government's statement of expectations for data centres on Friday, which includes rules for the community funds.

Once a facility is operational, proponents would be required to pay into their own funds, at a rate of $3,000 per megawatt (MW) of contracted energy each year.

For Tasmania's largest AI data centre company, Firmus, its 104MW facility at St Leonards would contribute $312,000 per year.

It also has a proposed 288MW centre planned for Long Reach, near Bell Bay, and a 40MW centre at Wesley Vale in the state's north-west.

Last month, Premier Rockliff announced plans for a singular local community benefit fund, but did not release the cost or structure.

At Friday's press conference, further details were announced.

The premier and Industry Minister Felix Ellis spoke of a single fund governed by "local people" and "local representatives" who would allocate grants to "community groups and other eligible organisations".

They did not reveal that there would be several funds or that companies themselves would control the funds.

The statement of expectations outlines "transparent governance arrangements" and requires public reporting.

Greens MP Tabatha Badger said she was "very curious" about how the community funds would be run.

"How do Tasmanians have the confidence that these companies are actually going to fairly engage with them and invest in the things that matter to Tasmanians?"

she said.

Expectations to be binding

Premier Rockliff announced plans for the fund in the days following Firmus's scrapped IPO, which unravelled due to investor concerns about the company's finances, expansion plans and social licence.

He said today that the expectations document would be reviewed within six months.

"In our view, [data centres] are a good investment for Tasmania and we welcome that investment," Mr Rockliff said.

"But the guardrails are important, particularly when it comes to community expectations, when it comes to transparency and when it comes to investing back in the local community."

Mr Ellis said proponents who did not follow the expectations "won't be able to proceed".

"There are already many statutory rules that the data centre developers are required to meet in areas such as planning and environmental requirements," he said.

The state government has been under pressure to step up its regulation of the burgeoning sector, following Firmus unveiling plans for multiple data centres in the state.

Opponents to data centres have raised concerns about where the energy and water used by the AI data factories will come from.

For the Firmus factory at St Leonards, state energy company Aurora has contracted energy supply through the initial stage, but it does not have a long-term deal.

Energy Minister Nick Duigan said proponents were "required" to partner with new renewable energy projects, but they could do that "through" Hydro Tasmania.

"So Hydro would go out and contract with the new renewable energy providers and act as an aggregator to provide a firmed energy product to the data centre," he said.

Industry backs fund

Russell Kelly, chief executive of technology sector advocate TasICT, said the expectations "put the onus" on data centre proponents to build trust with the community.

Mr Kelly said the amount proposed for the Local Community Benefit Fund was in line with other proposals in the nation.

"The tech sector can see this fund building benefits broader than the development itself,"

he said.

"We can see a pipeline of young Tasmanians getting jobs in technology. We can see closer association between the University of Tasmania and TasTAFE."

Fiona Turner of start-up hub Enterprize welcomed the expectations.

"Giving skills back to locals around AI is very important, especially with these data centres here," she said.