The emerging data center industry is robbing the West of its power and water resources, Jonathan Thompson wrote in High Country News.
Large server banks that operate almost every aspect of our digital world are unleashed in warehouses in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Washington and Wyoming, each gobbling as much electricity as small cities to handle AI queries, cryptocurrency extraction and other aspects of increasingly cloud-based society.
Thompson said, “Even if data centers employ dedicated solar, wind, or geothermal, they still get resources from other users, postpone utility plans, run nuclear and coal plants, and continue to retire well past pollution while building more natural gas plants.” While some AI companies are building dedicated solar equipment to offset energy use, most western states still rely heavily on coal and natural gas for their energy networks.
Western states respond in a variety of ways. Some people, like Oregon, are trying to hold data centers accountable for their energy use. Others are encouraging data centers to be located there, hoping they will bring jobs and new tax revenue.
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