Five things to know about data centers in rural America
The article highlights the significant water and electricity consumption of data centers, particularly for AI, and the environmental concerns surrounding water discharge due to a lack of transparency. It notes the increasing trend of data centers in rural areas, leading to community opposition over land use and utility costs, with companies sometimes exploiting regulatory gaps. Specific examples include Google's facility in Oklahoma and xAI's project in Tennessee.
The growing expansion of data centers across rural America, especially those for artificial intelligence, raises significant concerns regarding water and electricity consumption, according to a recent analysis by the St. Cloud Times. These facilities, often hyperscale, demand vast quantities of water for cooling, a process that frequently involves evaporative systems, leading to substantial water loss. For instance, Google's data center in Pryor, Oklahoma, one of its largest, uses approximately 1.1 billion gallons of water annually, equivalent to the yearly consumption of 10,000 average American households.
Environmentalists and communities are also concerned about the largely unknown impact of discharged cooling water. A recent study cited a "clear lack of transparency" from companies regarding the volume, destination, and chemical composition of their wastewater, making it difficult to assess potential harm to rivers, groundwater, and existing wastewater systems.
While 87% of current U.S. data centers are in urban areas, two-thirds of planned facilities are slated for rural communities. This shift has ignited widespread opposition from residents, who protest the conversion of agricultural land into industrial sites and worry about minimal local benefits versus increased utility costs. Communities are increasingly challenging projects by pressuring local governments to reject rezoning requests, with many efforts proving successful, such as the ongoing debate over the Beltline data center project in Yukon and Oklahoma City.
Further complicating development, the technology industry, with over $1.6 trillion invested in AI since 2013, has often exploited regulatory gaps or avoided traditional permitting requirements. Examples include data centers in Oklahoma bypassing water permits by purchasing from municipal utilities, and Elon Musk's xAI installing nearly 20 natural gas turbines for a data center in Memphis, Tennessee, without obtaining necessary air permits.