Data center developers are facing a new reality as communities across the United States raise increasingly forceful questions about the enormous facilities being built to support artificial intelligence. Concerns over electricity demand, water consumption, air pollution, and rising utility costs are changing how the industry approaches new projects.
Across the country, proposed data centers are encountering resistance from residents and local officials who say communities need more information about their effects before projects are approved. Public concerns include the amount of electricity and water the facilities require, the noise generated by cooling equipment and backup generators, and the possibility that rapidly growing demand could contribute to higher utility costs.
Industry representatives say they are responding by engaging communities earlier in the development process and providing more information about proposed projects. Developers increasingly recognize that local concerns about power, water, noise, land use and costs can determine whether projects move forward and how quickly approvals can be obtained.
At the same time, the industry remains under intense pressure to build quickly. Competition for artificial-intelligence computing capacity has made access to power—and the speed with which a facility can begin operating—a critical business consideration. That creates a growing tension between developers’ desire for speed and communities’ demands for greater scrutiny of projects before they are approved.
Source: This report is based in part on reporting by Hiroko Tabuchi of The New York Times from Data Center World in Dallas.