New report says data center fears about electric grid and water usage may be overblown
A report from the Sutherland Institute suggests that fears about data centers' impact on the electric grid and water usage may be exaggerated. The author, Ford Copple, emphasizes that existing high-quality data indicates data centers have not caused significant consumer rate increases on the electric grid and that new cooling advances can reduce water strain. He advocates for balancing concerns with data and acknowledging the positive impacts of technology enabled by data centers.
The Sutherland Institute recently published a report aimed at informing voters and policymakers about the real-world impacts of data centers, particularly addressing concerns around electricity and water consumption.
Ford Copple, the report's author and development coordinator at the non-partisan conservative think tank in Salt Lake City, stated that available data suggests fears about consumer electricity rate increases due to data centers are largely unfounded. He also highlighted new advancements in water usage and cooling technologies that could significantly reduce water strain from these facilities. Copple noted that while environmental concerns like air quality near natural gas power plants should not be overlooked, they need to be evaluated with data and balanced against the benefits that artificial intelligence and other technologies, reliant on data centers, provide to society. He stressed the increasing demand for data centers and the need for society to address this supply-demand imbalance.