Those opposed to data centers I want your views please

Electrical engineer. data centers are fine but NIMBY.

1. Poor land use. Almost zero local economy boost for huge footprint that could be used better. They’re just big empty buildings sucking a lot of power while only needing minimal maintenance. The minimal full time jobs they offer, hands and security, aren’t great.
2. Increase energy demand without adding low cost supply. Effectively everyone subsidizes them even when they “Pay for every KWh of energy they use,” according to their Texas campaigns. At least the crypto mining firms offered to dial down during high demand. AI centers can’t do that.


If you let a data center in your neighborhood, the immediate area gets a lower density of good jobs and pays more for electricity. Not a good combination.

Came across this podcast the other day. It was an interesting listen. They do talk about how the concern over water contamination or over use is a myth / FUD as most modern data centers recycle the water they use for cooling in a closed loop system.

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Gemini summary:

This episode of The Ezra Klein Show features journalist Jasmine Sun discussing the growing bipartisan backlash against AI data centers across the United States.

Key Takeaways:

- The Nature of the Backlash: The opposition is driven by three main factors: process (frustration with secretive non-disclosure agreements), direct impact (concerns over land use, aesthetics, noise, and massive energy/water consumption), and broader skepticism of AI as an elite political project (0:05:55-0:06:30, 0:23:14-0:23:25).

- Local vs. Tech Interests: Many communities fear these projects are "bubbles" that could leave them with stranded industrial assets if the AI industry shifts, citing past negative experiences like the Foxconn project in Wisconsin (0:14:16-0:15:51).

- The "Pro-AI" Absence: Unlike other industrial developments (like solar farms or auto plants), there is a lack of a clear, compelling "pro-constituency" among the public for these facilities, making them easier targets for local resistance (0:21:49-0:22:15).

- Silicon Valley's Realization: Sun notes that the tech industry is finally beginning to recognize that they face "relational" and political hurdles that cannot be solved by simply outspending opponents or relying on technological optimism (1:12:52-1:14:40).

- Sun argues that this conflict imposes a necessary realism on the tech sector, forcing them to engage with the messy, democratic realities of the physical world rather than just their own digital narratives (1:12:52-1:13:33).

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I've worked in data centers, and have a friend that does construction management for them. Any article or conversation that mentions AI in relation to data centers is a guaranteed emotion play. Meta can build a data center, but how much of it is dedicated to caching IG stories, or doing facial matching on pictures that people post to suggest who to tag vs Meta AI can depend upon the day or the hour, as an example.

I like data centers. I'm probably using resources out of eight different companies' DCs as we speak, based on dumb daily shite I'm doing on my desktop.

What I *don't* like is the moron politicians that keep falling for the "thousands of jobs" bullshite when giving tax incentives. Once it's built, there may be 10k physical servers in there, but you maybe need 10-50 people to rack and stack and do other physical stuff, everything else will be maintained from somewhere else (Seattle, CA, India, etc.) The electricians and HVAC folks will be contractors that may visit every 30-90 days.

We're also far enough along now that any municipality should be bright enough to ask about how the DC is requisitioning power, but most of them don't seem to. In El Paso, Meta is building their own gas fired plant to generate electricity. Great, no problem. Closed loop systems only really lose water that evaporates during cooling, but every building with A/C does that. Nobody complained about chip fabs in Arizona, which actually use a ton more water than DCs, but that's because it's an important swing state.

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I watched a youtube video and the data center emits a constant "hum" that can easily be heard from the houses. In other words, I you can see the data center, then you can also hear it.

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I thought that was in Virginia or the East coast. I think it was backup generators that were supposed to run intermittently (we tested ours once a month for ten minutes in a small DC,) but they were running constantly. That's not normal, but they may have been a in test phase to see if they could run the gennies for 14 days including a refuel, etc. That's not normal operation procedures though.

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Nobody complained about chip fabs in Arizona, which actually use a ton more water than DCs, but that's because it's an important swing state.

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I mean... chip production is also a massive hole in national security and badly needed to there may be more of an appetite for appeasing them.


The closed loops isn't as wonderful as they say too:
LINK

I'm pro data center but they do create problems that need addressed.

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I think it was backup generators that were supposed to run intermittently (we tested ours once a month for ten minutes in a small DC,) but they were running constantly.

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two things:
1) Chillers can be extremely loud and must run 24/7. Some of what you hear from a data center is not generators.
2) Some hyperscale data centers can have 50+ generators. They require regular exercising when not in use. Just to do the required exercising can require a few generators being on essentially 24/7.

I appreciate everyone sharing their time and opinions, and I respect them all. In recent weeks, I’ve noticed certain trends, particularly during protests, where these patterns have been even more apparent. The responses here have shown a good understanding of the topics being discussed, which is refreshing. I respect a person’s view when they have genuine knowledge of the subject they are speaking for or against. Unfortunately, many people I talk to speak on these issues without truly understanding them, and that has been the most troubling part for me. Because of this, I’ve joined with a few others—not to push for or against any stance, but to ensure discussions are grounded in truth and understanding. There’s something I’d like to bring up, though it might touch on personal feelings for some. If anyone is open to taking a short anonymous survey, let me know, and we can exchange emails to share it. I’ll probably just post a link here if that’s okay, as I don’t want to give the impression I’m selling anything—because I’m definitely not. I’m looking for honest opinions, and sometimes the best way to get those is in a closed setting, since not everyone likes the backlash that can come from others when their views aren’t what people expect or want to hear. Thanks again, I truly appreciate it.

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I’ll probably just post a link here if that’s okay

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I'm good with that, not that I have any authority whatsoever...