Chance,

Your letters regarding the AI data centers are eye opening, like the first one.

You had mentioned:

Problems with these:  tens of millions of gallons of water used per facility; noise from the generators and chillers; property-value impacts; electrical demands.

 

These data centers are massive and they have popped up all over with dozens more planned.  And many have been built in areas where there are already water restrictions for residents like in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico.  And electricity and water prices have gone up because of the huge amount of electricity and water required to run these.

Even though some power plants are being built to accommodate them, they still pull power, and they claim little water draw.

But there is great concern over any tapping of the already over taxed underground aquifers.

There is such a race for investment, that government leaders are not turning that to an advantage for the people.

In Texas, not a single further AI data center should be completed until 100% of it projected power is to be supplied by new power plants built by the same investors.

Also, not only in Texas, but other states, should force investors to build desalination plants on the gulf, and pumping systems to bring the water to the proposed sites.

Once the aquifers are drawn too low, farming will be the first affected, then even city water, and people will need to begin to move elsewhere.

Another problem that government leaders may not be handling well, is with eminent domain, where people will be forced to accept much lower value for their properties, and then to move.

About 70 years ago, the City of Chicago used eminent domain to make possible the various expressways.

I personally know of a family that had that happen to them, where they were forced to move to another part of Chicago.

But then, sometime later, another expressway was to go through where they moved to after the first eminent domain, and they were forced out again.

That was during the reign of "da Boss", so, are there enough politicians that may similarly go along with the investors for the AI data centers?

Some places, like in Georgia, Wisconsin, Maryland, etc., are trying to push back.