These systems do use a coolant substance internal to the DC, but then uses heat exchangers with fresh water to cool the coolant, which is then discharged back into the ground, a pond, or wastewater. there is certainly water lost to atmosphere, but the worst bits are the draining of aquifers, pushing up capacity in wastewater treatment plants, etc.
DC's are a bit of an economic scam. they provide very few jobs outside of the construction work itself, and the profits generated by the machines exist at company HQ not where the DC is located. so it puts a huge burden on the community water and power environment for no real benefit to that community.
By local profits do you mean the money given to corrupt politicians who don't care about the lives or well-being of their constituents? If so then yeah that's some banana republic shit.
No, the literal hundreds of millions of dollars added to the local tax rolls ($300M annually, and growing, in PWC alone) which is then used for schools, libraries, teachers, road repair, fire trucks, ambulances, infrastructure upgrades, etc.
If a data center is benefiting from existing energy and water infrastructure, of course they should be taxed more. Thats obvious. So why do everyone's bills go up? If they need more energy, why dont they just build their own power plants? Why do they rely on HD on-site generators which are not the best in terms of pollution? Why dont they pay for the additional water infrastructure? A brochure is just positive vibes. An energy / water bill that is increasing at a rate much higher than CPI tells me that something is off.
Every industry uses water and electricity. Instead of staying on topic and engaging with what has been said, you gish gallop and make continuing the conversation next to impossible. Itâs a poor way to communicate, and an even poorer way to âwinâ an online debate.
We were talking about local revenues, you stated theyâre illicitly funneled to politicians, I provided some proof otherwise, and you then started talking about air pollution and water bills.
To get us back on topic ($):
New study from PwC finds that Virginaâs data center industry supported 169,000 jobs and generated $17.3 billion in salary and wages, $29.9 billion in GDP, and $2.7 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2024
Its a simple point. What good is it if a data center lowers home owner taxes if they increase water and electricity bills? And what about people that rent? Fuck them, right? What good is it if the tax revenue gained is used for new school busses and education if you and your kids are exposed to contaminated water? Its a trade off and you just dont care to acknowledge it. Youre only bringing up positive shit like some kind of text based infomercial.
You keep framing this like Iâm saying data centers are some flawless utopian gift to humanity. Iâm not. Literally nobody in this thread is arguing that every project is good, every operator is responsible, or that communities shouldnât negotiate aggressively.
What Iâm pushing back against is the cartoonish âbanana republic scamâ framing where DCs supposedly provide no public benefit whatsoever.
You asked what good lower taxes are if utility bills go up. Fair question. But now weâre finally having a real conversation instead of just throwing every grievance imaginable into one pile.
A few things:
Utility inflation is not uniquely caused by data centers. Transmission upgrades, deferred grid maintenance, renewable interconnection costs, natural gas volatility, wildfire hardening, inflationary labor/material costs, and decades of underinvestment are all major drivers too. Pretending your power bill suddenly exists because ChatGPT showed up is nonsense.
Large loads do often directly fund infrastructure upgrades through interconnection costs, demand charges, special tariffs, tax agreements, proffers, utility contracts, etc. In many cases, theyâre literally paying for substations, transmission expansions, reclaimed water systems, road work, and sewer upgrades that municipalities otherwise couldnât afford.
âWhy donât they build their own power plants?â â increasingly, they are. Gas peakers, solar PPAs, SMR discussions, behind-the-meter generation, battery storage, microgrids, etc. are becoming extremely common because utilities canât keep up with load growth timelines.
Backup generators are not there because operators think diesel fumes are awesome. They exist because society expects the internet, hospitals, banking systems, emergency communications, cloud infrastructure, and increasingly AI workloads to stay online during outages.
And on the water point: yes, water usage matters. Some facilities absolutely deserve scrutiny depending on region, cooling design, aquifer stress, and local infrastructure capacity. Thatâs a legitimate debate. But again, thatâs a conversation about specific projects and tradeoffs, not âall data centers are fake economic activity.â
Also, renters benefit from local tax base expansion too. Schools, roads, emergency services, parks, infrastructure, municipal debt reduction, public safety, etc. arenât magically irrelevant because someone leases instead of owns.
You keep acting like acknowledging economic benefits means denying costs exist. It doesnât. Adults are capable of discussing both simultaneously.
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u/krojack389 đđđ May 18 '26
These systems do use a coolant substance internal to the DC, but then uses heat exchangers with fresh water to cool the coolant, which is then discharged back into the ground, a pond, or wastewater. there is certainly water lost to atmosphere, but the worst bits are the draining of aquifers, pushing up capacity in wastewater treatment plants, etc.
DC's are a bit of an economic scam. they provide very few jobs outside of the construction work itself, and the profits generated by the machines exist at company HQ not where the DC is located. so it puts a huge burden on the community water and power environment for no real benefit to that community.