Riverview Innovation & Technology Campus data center (former Tonawanda Coke site)
Also called: RITC data center
Developers who are cleaning up the old Tonawanda Coke plant want to build a $2 billion, 300 MW AI data center there. It would use about as much power as Tonawanda and Amherst combined. Review is paused, and the town passed a one-year moratorium.
Where things stand: Paused: the developer asked to pause review in June 2026 while it waits on grid studies, and the town passed a one-year moratorium on data centers of 20 MW or more in Aug. 2026.
🕒 Latest update (Aug 3, 2026): Town of Tonawanda Town Board unanimously passed a one-year moratorium on data centers of 20 MW or more.
What we know
- 📍 Where3875 River Road (former Tonawanda Coke plant), Tonawanda, Erie County
- 🏢 CompanyRiverview Innovation & Technology Campus (Ontario Specialty Contracting owners)
- 🌳 Size140 acres
- ⚡ Power it needs300 megawatts (about as much as 240,000 homes)
- 🔌 Where the power comes fromState grid (National Grid) through a planned $50 million substation; developer says most power would come from the Niagara hydro plant and Nine Mile Point nuclear plant.
- 💵 Cost$2 billion
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- How much water would the data center use per day? 🙋 I'll find out
- Is the site 120 or 140 acres? Reports differ. 🙋 I'll find out
What happened so far
- 2025Developer proposed a 500,000 sq ft, 300 MW AI data center on the old coke plant land.
- June 2026Site plan talk was pulled from the town planning board agenda; the developer paused review while waiting on NYISO and National Grid.
- Aug 3, 2026Town of Tonawanda Town Board unanimously passed a one-year moratorium on data centers of 20 MW or more.
Local votes and rules
⏸️ Pause on new data centers
Town board unanimously paused new applications for data centers of 20 megawatts or more for one year. It covers the planned data center at the old Tonawanda Coke site.
An aerial photo of the area.
Where this comes from
- Proposed $2B AI data center at former industrial site raises questions in Town of Tonawanda · WKBW · 2025
- Data center project at former Tonawanda Coke site on hold · Buffalo Toronto Public Media · June 3, 2026
- Tonawanda Town Board passes data center moratorium · Buffalo Toronto Public Media · Aug 4, 2026
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