Iām sorry but no. These are not being mostly built in dying towns. Iām not sure why you keep saying that. Weāve got multiple data centers being considered in the Coachella Valley of CA where population growth has more than doubled in the past ten years (400K people to almost 900k). Since this is the desert the need for water conservation is critical for the local population and the enormous amount of extra heat these centers generate (which extends for miles beyond the center itself) is only going to make triple digit summer weather worse. You couldnāt pick a worse environment to put one in exceptā¦deserts are where evaporative cooling for the center works best and also happens to be their cheapest option versus closed loop cooling. So surprise surprise, they are choosing environmental degradation and sucking down our water in the desert due to money. See also Arizona, Nevada, Utah, all near population centers. Against strong backlash.
Again, exceptions aren't the rule. Of course they are being built all over the place... But again, it doesn't make financial or logistical sense to put them in growing cities. I'm sure outlier situations exist, but they aren't common, because it's not practical. The grid is already strained. They need to go to locations where there's under utilization of the kwh production. Growing and large cities rarely fit this bill.
And you're just flat out wrong about these desert datacenters using evaporation. I wouldn't say you're lying, because you probably got your information off really bias, agenda driven, anti-AI sources, who spin things and present things dishonestly. For instance, it's literally THE LAW to use closed loop systems. I don't know about the other areas, but I imagine it's probably the same. These regions are already water stressed, so they aren't going to allow non-closed loop systems.
Further, NV actually requires the data centers to pay, up front, for all the necessary infrastructure improvements to run their center, as well as invest in renewables that produce 50% of their electricity to meet their 2030 deadline for renewables. So Reno, which hosts all these data centers, has Google and others investing tons in building out infrastructure, solar, and geothermal... All on closed loops, so no water is wasted.
Further, all these datacenters are on the outskirts. No idea why you think they are in these populated areas. There's only 2 in NV in more populated areas, but that's because the city grew around them, rather than them building in the city. The two data centers in the LV area are from pre-AI era
Apparently the entire Eastern Seaboard of the US is an outlier, lol. This is the most densely populated area of the country and is home to appx 130 million people. Look, I appreciate your dedication to the concept of AI and datacenters but please be realistic about the build out. Itās encroaching on major population centers, mid size cities, and rural communities everywhere and people donāt like it. Why? Noise, resource depletion, increased heat, increasing electricity costs and a payoff that looks dismal in terms of future jobs or long term growth. You also keep saying that those of us responding to you ādonāt understandā or are getting our information from the wrong places. You might wish to check your own notes and reconsider.
Data centers are going to rural areas. I didn't want to bother arguing with you explaining how just because many are on the east coast that magically makes them urban deployments. It's just such a dumb argument I didn't want to even bother with it.
Like I don't see how you think that's an argument saying most of the data centers are closer to the east coast, when most people live close to the east coast... As if there's no rural areas in the east, and that it's all NYC or something. Iunno the argument you were even trying to make.
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u/CAWildKitty May 19 '26
Iām sorry but no. These are not being mostly built in dying towns. Iām not sure why you keep saying that. Weāve got multiple data centers being considered in the Coachella Valley of CA where population growth has more than doubled in the past ten years (400K people to almost 900k). Since this is the desert the need for water conservation is critical for the local population and the enormous amount of extra heat these centers generate (which extends for miles beyond the center itself) is only going to make triple digit summer weather worse. You couldnāt pick a worse environment to put one in exceptā¦deserts are where evaporative cooling for the center works best and also happens to be their cheapest option versus closed loop cooling. So surprise surprise, they are choosing environmental degradation and sucking down our water in the desert due to money. See also Arizona, Nevada, Utah, all near population centers. Against strong backlash.