Data Centers

 I have always felt that having a data center built was a good thing for the local economy.  It would mean jobs.  There would be advantages in having them.  Plus, in the global AI race, it would be good to be on top, rather than fall behind enemy countries like China, who are not developing AI to benefit the rest of the world.

Regardless of what you think of AI, or the AI race, data centers bring jobs to the area.

But, so many people are against them.  Every time there is a hint of a data center being built somewhere, the locals come out in droves to protest it, and urge their representatives to prohibit them from being built.

Part of this is just hysteria.  There are people that know nothing about what data centers are, and they are afraid of what they don't know.

There is the legitimate concern for their water usage.  According to what I've read, some of these data centers use a tremendous amount of water each day for cooling.  This water usage would definitely impact what usage for people and businesses in the area.

Then there's the power concerns.  The data centers use a huge amount of electricity to operate, and this puts a definite strain on the local power grid.

But there are data centers that do not have these impacts on water and power.  There are data centers being built right now that use different cooling technology, and use much less water, or no water at all, for cooling.  And on top of that, they generate their own power.  So a data center of this type has benefits to the local community, with few, if any, drawbacks.

I'm hoping that the newer ways of building and operating data centers will take hold, and lessen the local resistance to change.