Nimbys comes for the data centers that AI needs
(Bloomberg Advice)-The emerging political struggle over data centers has a function unknown to current policy making: The opponents are not divided by partisan lines. Instead, the conflict between local communities and major technology developers, with elected officials trapped in the middle. Politicians – from both parties – who have these projects without enough handrail found that their careers are done. Officials who once ended data centers for their economic potential stand before the setback of residents and businesses blinded by the pressure on the power grid and the water supply, the impact of noise pollution and the possible damage to property values. Virginia was a pioneer in the release of tax-and-use for equipment for data centers. But these mammoth facilities consume monstrous amounts of energy and water-something that threatens to increase electricity prices to political dignity levels. Now Virginia serves as a careful story of what not to do. The 600 data centers use as much electricity as two million households, or more than half of the households in the state. It is also a LAX land use statement with no regulations that require local governments to show that they have sufficient services before allowing new data center construction. Local officials are left to develop their own ordinances and codes. The technical industry has approached its expansion by reflecting its data centers and cryptocurrency mines with mysterious non-disclosure agreements that keep the public as well as some public officials in the dark about the possible demand for energy, water and noise. However, local officials, who are often so willing to sell land at increased prices for massive warehouse campuses and tax revenue, are signing the treaty – and take the profitable campaign cash that is usually associated with it. Chris Mills, president of the Piedmont Environment Council, has been dealing with land use and decision-making on Virginia for 30 years. With the explosion of the data center, he said: “The technology industry is trying to violate all the rules.” “Homeowners’ associations and planned communities find that their open space will have a transmission line, or a data center next door, and they are apoplectic – because it was not in the plan, and it was not something anyone knew,” he said. “With the threat of the leading domain and other things it is, they feel very dissatisfied.” The game just gets bigger. Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta are one of the companies that introduces plans for new “hyperscalers” – facilities that house 5,000 or more servers and cover enough land to fill different soccer fields. And a setback is brewing. This month, a judge stopped the construction of a $ 24.7 billion project in Prince William County after residents of the adjacent subdivision were sued and said they did not give its impact well. (The leaders of the project, QTS Realty Trust Inc. and Compass data centers, promised to appeal.) The chairman of the Council of Supervisors in Prince William County, a Democrat, was preferred to push a plan to build 37 data centers over 1,700 hectares of rural land. And in the city of Warrenton, Virginia, evil voters defeated every member of the city council who supported Amazon’s proposal to build a $ 37 million data center, 220,000 square meters. These battles are not unique to Virginia. ‘What was once a quiet infrastructure is now a national flash tip,’ concludes a recent report from Data Center Watch, a project of the AI intelligence firm 10A Labs. It has been found that $ 64 billion on data center projects has been blocked or delayed in 24 states over the past two years due to local opposition. No amount of political friction will change the track. Data -Centers are here to stay -and with the AI boom, America will need more of them. What needs to change is the way the technology industry deals with local communities. “These data centers are of critically important infrastructure, and the operators are extremely sensitive about any potential threats to them,” says John Dinsdale, research director of Synergy Research Group. But he admits, “The level of secrecy is above -of and not very useful.” There are four things that states need to do if they want a fair process for developing the data center, Mills told me: Require companies to be transparent about their plans; make a reasonable assessment of the consequences that include not only the local community, but surrounding communities; regulate how the consequences will be handled; and reduce the impact on soil and water resources. A report last week of the industry-focused data center border drew similar conclusions. “Developers are encouraged to map early opposition, transparently publish environmental data and to negotiate tangible local benefits to reduce resistance and streamline approvals,” it states. However, Tuesdays warn that when one community rejects a project, developers will simply continue to find another suitable website. “It’s a bit like playing Whac-a-Mol,” he said. ” Talking money and there is a lot of money involved in these projects. ‘It is becoming increasingly visible in countries where intensive lobbying has blocked from the technical industry. measure, which says that the existing projects in Virginia would disrupt. Youngkin is only partially right. has covered more than three decades of politics and the government.