Connecting Communities - Data Centers Coming to a Community Near You?

When a data center makes plans to build a facility in Pavilion Township, residents nearly shut down the township hall meeting due to the number of interested folks who wanted to join the meeting and share their thoughts about the prospect. Widely, it was found that the residents are against letting the data center come to live in their neighborhood. Two residents, Bill Farmer (a long-time activist and previous guest on the show), and Katelyn Clarey team up to bring attention to the issue and organize their neighbors. Listen to them discuss the issue of data centers, the problems that they pose, and the terms on which the community is rejecting the idea (and what terms they would want to see in place in order to allow a data center to be built). 00:00 Introduction 00:03 Introduction to the Podcast 00:23 Introduction of Guests 01:00 Formation of the Community Group 01:59 Community Concerns at Township Meeting 05:00 Role of Data Centers 08:08 Secretive Nature of Data Centers 10:11 Economic and Job Impact 19:35 Energy Consumption and Costs 30:00 Environmental Concerns 32:00 Public Ownership and Regulation