 - During a discussion about local economic development efforts this week, members of the Fremont County Commission took the opportunity to ask officials from the Wyoming Business Council about data centers and their potential impact on local communities.){kind=link}
(Lander, WY) – During a discussion about local economic development efforts this week, members of the Fremont County Commission took the opportunity to ask officials from the Wyoming Business Council about data centers and their potential impact on local communities.
The initial question came from Commission Chairman Larry Allen, who outlined three areas of concern that he’s heard about recently surrounding data centers:
- the amount of water they use
- their impact on local energy rates
- their limited potential to provide jobs
“The concern is a small data center will consume 5 million gallons of water a day, (and) the power usage … causes their neighbors rates to go up dramatically,” Allen explained. “And truthfully, do they really employ that many extra people?”
WBC Chief Executive Officer Josh Dorrell offered to “tackle” those questions, referring to all three points as “very common myths” about data centers.
For example, regarding water usage, Dorrell said modern data centers typically utilize “closed-loop” systems that don’t require as much water as the older models.
“At one point there might have been a data center that used that kind of water, (but since then) they’ve really focused in and said, ‘How do we make sure that we’re using a lot less water … than we have in the past?’” he explained. “So (now) they don’t use water in the rates and the amounts that are foretold on the internet. … The facts are different than the fiction on that one.”
Data centers do use a lot of energy, however, Dorrell continued, moving on to Allen’s second question, but stated their high energy usage doesn’t impact residential power customers, whose rates are determined through the Public Service Commission.
“Those are regulated monopolies, and their rates are fixed,” he said. “They’re not affected negatively (by) industrial power users.”
Finally, Dorrell acknowledged that, “generally speaking,” data centers don’t employ large numbers of people after the construction phase has passed – but he said the positions that are available are usually “really good, high-quality jobs.”
The facilities also have ongoing maintenance needs that require intermittent assistance from construction crews long-term, Dorrell said, so “there’s always a base of people – tradespeople – that are used.”
Feasibility
Data centers generate revenue for local communities, too, Dorrell added, based on the sales taxes they pay for their electricity usage and the property taxes they pay for their facilities and capital expenditures.
That doesn’t necessarily mean every community should start promoting itself as a data center destination, though, he said, suggesting that, instead, local governments should take time to assess whether such a facility would be appropriate for them based on their water system capacity, the ability of local power sources to support the facility, and the presence of the needed broadband infrastructure, among other considerations.
Allen said people might also want information about the amount of noise a data center might produce – a comment that prompted Dorrell to bring up light pollution as well.
“Those are great questions, and those are things that communities all have to consider,” WBC West Central Regional Director Patrick Edwards said.
Pushback
Later in this week’s WBC discussion, Commissioner Jenny Wilson pushed back on some of Dorrell’s responses to Allen’s initial questions, pointing out, for example, that residential electricity rates in Wyoming “only lock in for one to two years at the most,” so “as the data centers come in … they can raise the prices.”
She also challenged his comments about the “closed-loop” facilities using a limited amount of water.
“That’s been debunked several times and shown that it does not do what you think it does,” Wilson said. “(The water) doesn’t stay in the system – they have to flush it. They have to move it out, and it does use a lot of water.”
She concluded by encouraging local residents to do their own research into the issue.
“Really look at what is going on and (don’t) listen to a bunch of word-smithers … under the guise of modern technology advancements,” she said. “Sometimes this isn’t a good thing, and we need to pay close attention.”