I get that people dont want big corpo mega projects in their back yards, but I live in one of these areas and have a counterpoint to one of their reasons regarding the local power grid.
The pressure on the grid is a thing planned out by the local municipality and the power authority, you dont get to just build a data center, then ask for electricity. This article glosses over the volume of effort that goes into accomodating these buildings and not trip breakers on the grid. (This does not address the enviromental impact of that extra power generation, that is a valid complaint)
The extra power infrastructure improves service for normal residents in areas around these data centers because of the redundancy. The reason these areas are chosen is because of their easy access to multiple electricity providers. (And a low risk index according to FEMA, and proximity to each other, data centers like to cluster up to share the infrastructure)
The high use of the water table is a valid complaint, but the buildings being an eye-sore is, I feel, toeing the line to NIMBYism (people complain about windmills all the time because they look “bad”, data centers will usually try to look like a warehouse as part of their physical security). The capalists will allocate resources as they see fit, and thats just the reality these areas live in…
I get that people dont want big corpo mega projects in their back yards, but I live in one of these areas and have a counterpoint to one of their reasons regarding the local power grid.
The pressure on the grid is a thing planned out by the local municipality and the power authority, you dont get to just build a data center, then ask for electricity. This article glosses over the volume of effort that goes into accomodating these buildings and not trip breakers on the grid. (This does not address the enviromental impact of that extra power generation, that is a valid complaint)
The extra power infrastructure improves service for normal residents in areas around these data centers because of the redundancy. The reason these areas are chosen is because of their easy access to multiple electricity providers. (And a low risk index according to FEMA, and proximity to each other, data centers like to cluster up to share the infrastructure)
The high use of the water table is a valid complaint, but the buildings being an eye-sore is, I feel, toeing the line to NIMBYism (people complain about windmills all the time because they look “bad”, data centers will usually try to look like a warehouse as part of their physical security). The capalists will allocate resources as they see fit, and thats just the reality these areas live in…