Dan Moore: Data centers, a mixed bag of goodwill and concern

As our modern life moves faster, newer things come into our daily lives which we'd never dreamed of. For great-grandparents growing up at the turn of the 20th century, it was things like indoor plumbing, home electrification, and the innovation of commercial jet travel. In our own lifetimes, we've seen phenomenal advancements in medicine, automation, labor-saving equipment and productivity improvement devices like computers. Some of these 'new things' we didn't give a second thought to, some we accepted right away, and some we greeted with apprehension. It seems that data centers fit all three categories. Advancements in better living usually came into our everyday living gradually — some every few years. We had time to acclimate ourselves to new ways of living without regret for what used to be. But with the advent of laptops, iPhones and electric vehicles, we've seen a marked acceleration in the introduction rate of inventions to the point that we're starting to see push back on acceptance of some. We now have self-check-out at the grocery store and self-check-in at airline counters. Online shopping has greatly reduced time spent at local stores for prescriptions, dining, groceries, clothing, and sporting event/concert tickets. We can do it from the comfort of our living rooms. While these things have generally been accepted in stride by American consumers because their convenience greatly eased our workload and freed up time to play, work more efficiently and do things we never had time to do before. New technology is good. But, a new technological concept has suddenly come into our lives and it's carrying a mixed bag of goodwill and concern: the data center. Up until a few years, we'd never heard of them, much less thought about them, pro or con. But recently, communities have been inundated with companies seeking local permitting and financing for them. The onslaught of requests to build has been rapid, and the growth of those already built is like nothing seen before. While acclimation to and acceptance of previous technological advancements by the general public was measured in years and even decades, the growing pervasiveness of data center growth is challenging public acceptance. So stunning has this building boom been, that the term 'data center' has gained a foreboding connotation — something to be avoided as not necessary at the least, and deleterious to our very well-being at the worst. So, what is one to think about these hundreds of server farms that already exist? They vary in size from big box stores to shopping centers. And suddenly, there are thousands of requests across the country for communities to allow even more of these behemoth structures to be built in their backyards. Along with permitting requests come legions of advocates saying we should move faster in building these things so we don't lose out to the Chinese. As well, there's an equal number of protesters warning us to slam on the brakes because data centers are unsafe at any speed. What are folks to think? What do data centers or server farms do? First, they're 'the cloud,' places where astronomical quantities of files are kept rather than on your individual PC or a company's bank of computers. They process data, conduct and transmit computing functions, including large language model and generative training (AI) functions, and share information. As technology improves and more uses for burgeoning technology evolve, we need more of these off-site or out-of-home servers to enable this new way of life. Unlike previous bursts in technological advancement, such as electricity, automation, and transportation (cars, planes, and rockets), which grew geometrically or iteratively, the computing industry is advancing exponentially. What are the cons to building server farms in our backyard? They don't create that many local jobs (other than initial construction) as would a factory complex of the same size. They're staffed with a relatively small maintenance and operations force, plus technicians to handle networking issues. They put a heavy strain on the local electric grid because they require a lot of power. As such, they're in direct competition with local residents and businesses for the power already available on the grid. This raises local electric rates dramatically. Likewise, server farms put an extraordinary demand on local water resources to dissipate the tremendous amount of heat they generate. This puts data centers in direct competition with residents, farmers, and businesses for existing water consumption, raising water rates accordingly. Finally, if gas turbine or diesel generators are employed to provide the power needed to serve the data centers, this increases local noise pollution, but more importantly, will increase the carbon footprint with their greenhouse gas emissions. What benefits do data centers provide? They can provide a large financial boon to the community in the form of taxes and payroll contributions that the local townships wouldn't normally have. Their high-tech presence attracts other high-tech industry that benefit from proximity to such facilities. They impose little additional public burden on local community institutions (police, fire protection, and schools). And finally, as centers of advanced technology, they can add significantly to property values as business growth occurs. So, look closely at what your community needs and respond better informed as to what a data center might mean to you.