Sprawling, windowless warehouses that house rows of high-speed servers powering almost everything the world does on phones and computers are increasingly becoming fixtures of the American landscape, popping up in cities and suburbs across states. -United.
Demand for data centers has exploded in recent years due to the rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and urban and rural governments are competing for lucrative deals with big tech companies.
But as data centers begin to pop up in increasingly densely populated areas, near homes, schools, parks and recreation centers, some residents are pushing back against the more powerful companies of the world due to concerns about the economic, social and environmental health of their communities.
In Northern Virginia, more than 300 data centers dot the hills of the region’s westernmost counties and collide with wooded bike paths that wind through the suburbs. But one of the latest proposals in the area, Plaza 500, would see a 466,000-square-foot facility and adjacent electrical substation built within a few hundred feet of townhomes, playgrounds and a community center .
The pitch from Starwood Capital Group, the private investment firm founded by billionaire Barry Sternlicht, to Fairfax County officials promised jobs and a significant property tax increase. But data center critics say the incentives aren’t enough to counter the consequences of building facilities so close to people’s homes.
Tyler Ray, leader in the fight against the Virginia Project, fears that more data centers in the region will compromise the already strained power grid: more than 25% of all electricity generated in Virginia in 2023 went to data centers. data, a figure that could increase. up to 46% by 2030 if data center growth continues at current rates. Some estimates also show that an average-sized data center requires the same water usage as 1,000 homes each day, raising concerns about the cost of water. Ray also worries about air quality, as the massive diesel generators that help power data center hardware send plumes of toxic pollutants into the atmosphere.
Ray and his neighbors tried to stop the development, but their efforts were largely unsuccessful. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors said in September that all newly proposed data centers must adhere to stricter zoning rules, but that the Plaza 500 project was exempt.
“I don’t know how an ordinary resident, even someone who has been actively engaged on an issue, has any chance of competing against the data center industry,” Ray said the night of the supervisors’ vote .
For local governments, attracting data centers to their municipalities means a financial boon: Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said in 2024 Virginia’s current data centers would bring in $1 billion in tax revenue.
For mid-sized facilities, data centers provide a small number of direct jobs – often fewer than 100 positions. Google recently announced that its investment in neighboring Loudoun County, which included two data centers, created about 150 direct jobs, a figure that data center opponents say was not worth it. But data center advocates say the number of indirect jobs such as construction, technology support and electrical work make the projects attractive. In that same announcement, Google said its investment generated 2,730 indirect jobs.
Kathy Smith, vice chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, voted in favor of the Plaza 500 proposal because she said data center growth is inevitable in the area and Fairfax County should reap the benefits. profits.
“I have a responsibility to step back from what we’re doing and look at the bigger picture,” Smith said. “Data centers are not going away.”
On the other side of the country in Morrow County, Oregon, Amazon Web Services has built at least five data centers around the town of Boardman, population 4,200, nestled among vast swathes of farmland dotted with mint spots and wind turbines, next to the Columbia River.
Last year, AWS paid about $34 million in property taxes and fees stipulated in the agreements after receiving a $66 million tax break. These payments, in addition to the company’s $1.7 in charitable donations in 2023, were instrumental in updating infrastructure and strengthening services. Those funds went toward a new ladder fire truck, a school resource officer and $5,000 grants for home buyers, totaling at least $2.8 million so far.
“This road here? This wouldn’t happen without AWS,” said Boardman Mayor Paul Keefer, sitting in the passenger seat of Police Chief Rick Stokoe’s car, pointing out the window at construction workers who were moving the earth and laid the sidewalk.
AWS has maintained relationships with local officials, including Keefer and Stokoe, both of whom were able to vote on whether to allow tax breaks with the company. Some former county commissioners and residents worry those relationships are too cozy.
Kevin Miller, vice president of global data centers at AWS, said in an interview with The Associated Press that “our interest is to be a model corporate citizen, to really be a partner in these communities.”
Skepticism over the deals began years ago, when three former elected officials allegedly helped approve data center deals while also owning a stake in a company that contracted with AWS will provide fiber optic cables for data centers. In June, they each paid $2,000 to settle an ethics complaint.
These officials are no longer in office. But the latest data center deal between Morrow County officials and AWS, which gives the company about $1 billion in tax breaks spread over 15 years to build five new data centers, has once again raises eyebrows.
Two former Morrow County commissioners, Jim Doherty and Melissa Lindsay, unsuccessfully lobbied in 2022 for AWS to pay more taxes as part of negotiations over new data centers.
“We didn’t want it to blow up. We didn’t want to chase them away,” Lindsay said. “But there were better deals to be had.”
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