Anderson County Planning Commission urges data center regulations
Anderson County, Tennessee, is considering new zoning regulations for data centers due to concerns about their significant electricity and water consumption. The Planning Commission voted to send a proposal to the County Commission, highlighting environmental and financial impacts on residents and local resources.
Anderson County, Tennessee, is actively addressing the rapid proliferation of data centers by proposing new zoning regulations to mitigate potential negative impacts on the community. The Anderson County Planning Commission recently voted to advance a proposal recommending stricter zoning rules for large data centers to the County Commission.
Jack Suskind, a 6 News reporter, highlighted the commission's proactive stance, acknowledging that data centers are likely to continue developing in the region. A key concern raised by planning commission members relates to the substantial resource demands of these facilities, particularly water and electricity. The Brookings Institution is cited, indicating that an average data center consumes 300,000 gallons of water daily, with large centers potentially using up to 5 million gallons—enough for a town of 50,000 people.
A planning commission member voiced specific concerns, referencing a data center in Atlanta owned by the private equity giant Blackstone, which reportedly consumed millions of gallons of water without proper city knowledge or payment for connections. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute noted that over 80% of water used in data center cooling evaporates, straining freshwater supplies.
Furthermore, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis's 2025 report warned that Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern ratepayers could shoulder $9.3 billion in data center expansion costs due to grid upgrades, leading to residential bill increases. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) reported that 18% of US industrial power already goes to data centers, a number projected to double by 2030, necessitating heavy investment in natural gas. The proposed rules would restrict data centers from being developed outside industrial zones and limit Bitcoin mining to heavy industrial areas.