Vast, windowless warehouses that house rows of high-speed servers that power nearly everything done in the world on phones and computers are increasingly entrenched in the American landscape, in towns across the country, They are appearing in cities and suburbs.
Demand for data centers has soared in recent years due to the rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, with urban and local governments alike competing for lucrative deals with big tech companies.
However, as data centers begin to move into densely populated areas adjacent to homes, schools, parks and recreation centers, some residents are moving away, citing concerns about the economic, social and environmental health of their communities. They are rebelling against the world’s most powerful companies.
In Northern Virginia, more than 300 data centers dot the rolling hills of the region’s westernmost counties, bordering wooded bike paths that wind through the countryside. But one of the area’s newest plans, Plaza 500, would include a 466,000-square-foot facility and an adjacent electrical substation a few hundred feet from townhomes, playgrounds, and a community center. .
The pitch to Fairfax County officials from Starwood Capital Group, a private investment firm founded by billionaire Barry Sternlicht, promised jobs and significant property tax increases. But data center critics say the incentives aren’t enough to offset the impact of building facilities so close to homes.
Tyler Ray, a leader fighting the Virginia project, worries that more data centers in the region could undermine an already stressed power grid. There is. More than 25% of all electricity produced in Virginia in 2023 will go to data centers, and this number is likely to rise. If data center growth continues at its current pace, it could reach 46% by 2030. By some estimates, a medium-sized data center uses as much water as 1,000 homes each day, raising concerns about water costs. Ray also worries about air quality, as the huge diesel generators that power data center hardware are pumping toxic pollutants into the atmosphere.
Ray and his neighbors tried to stop the development, but their efforts had little success. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors said in September that all newly proposed data centers must follow stricter zoning rules, but the Plaza 500 project was exempted.
“I don’t see how the general public, even those who have worked passionately on an issue, have any chance of confronting the data center industry,” the regulators voted. Mr. Ray spoke at night.
For local governments, attracting data centers means financial benefits. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin stated that in 2024, Virginia’s current data centers will generate $1 billion in tax revenue.
For average-sized facilities, data centers provide a small number of direct jobs, often fewer than 100 positions. Google recently announced that its investment in nearby Loudoun County, which includes two data centers, has created about 150 direct jobs, but data center opponents argue the numbers aren’t worth the trouble. . But data center proponents argue that the project is worthwhile given the number of indirect jobs such as construction, technical support and electrical work. In the same announcement, Google said its investment facilitated 2,730 indirect jobs.
Kathy Smith, vice chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said the Plaza 500 project is a sign that data center growth in the region is inevitable and that Fairfax County should be able to benefit from it. voted in favor of the proposal.
“I have a responsibility to step back from what we’re doing and look at the big picture,” Smith said. “Data centers aren’t going away.”
On the other side of the country, in Morrow County, Oregon, Amazon Web Services has built at least five data centers. Boardman, a town of 4,200 people, is surrounded by and adjacent to vast farmland dotted with mint fields and wind turbines. Columbia River.
Last year, AWS paid about $34 million in contracted property taxes and fees after receiving a $66 million tax break. These payments, in addition to $1.7 in philanthropic contributions from the company in 2023, have helped update infrastructure and enhance services. These funds will go towards a new ladder fire truck, school resource officers and $5,000 grants to homebuyers, bringing the total to date to at least $2.8 million.
“Do roads like this even exist here? If it weren’t for AWS, this wouldn’t have happened,” said Mayor Paul Keefer, sitting in the passenger seat of Police Chief Rick Stockoe’s cruiser, moving dirt out the window. , he said, pointing to construction workers laying pavement.
AWS has been building relationships with local officials, including Mr. Kiefer and Mr. Stokoe, who will vote on whether to approve the company’s tax cuts. Some former county commissioners and residents worry that the relationship is too cozy.
“Our focus is on being an exemplary corporate citizen and being a true partner in these communities,” Kevin Miller, vice president of global data centers at AWS, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Skepticism about the deal began several years ago, with three previously elected officials helping approve the data center deal, while the company contracted with AWS to provide fiber-optic cable to data centers. It started with him allegedly owning stocks. In June, they each paid $2,000 to resolve their ethics complaints.
Those officials are no longer in office. But the latest data center deal between Morrow County officials and AWS, which gives the company an estimated $1 billion in tax breaks over 15 years to build five new data centers, has raised eyebrows again. I hid.
Former Morrow County Commissioners Jim Dougherty and Melissa Lindsay unsuccessfully sought additional tax payments from AWS in negotiations for new data centers in 2022.
“We didn’t want to blow it up. We didn’t want to chase them away,” Lindsey said. “But we could have gotten a better deal.”
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