Data Centres Move into Rural Villages, People Suffer — Entrepreneurs Reap Large Profits
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - As artificial intelligence (AI) technology grows more pervasive, tech giants race to build large-scale data centre infrastructure to underpin it. Enormous investments are being poured out with the aim of conglomerates to rake in as much profit as possible. The promise: AI will bring huge benefits to the digital economy through increased productivity, efficiency, and innovation.
However, there is a high price to pay to push the AI revolution. The workforce fears that their positions will be replaced by sophisticated AI systems.
Proof appears everywhere. The wave of layoffs continues and companies curb recruitment. Many openly say that AI adoption has reduced operating costs, including labour costs.
This demonstrates that positive efficiency for businesses can have a negative impact on working-class and lower-middle communities. Many university graduates struggle to find jobs and end up in the informal sector with little certainty.
Not to mention other damaging impacts of AI, such as increasingly sophisticated fraud methods causing large financial losses, and misinformation more commonly found online through deepfake videos.
Data Centre Disaster in the US
Other damage arises from AI data centre construction that is proliferating. For developing countries in Southeast Asia, foreign investment to build data centres is often framed as positive for increasing national income. Yet again there is a high price to pay, and sadly the general public must shoulder it.
Environmental activists have long argued the risks to water and electricity supplies due to data-centre construction. Data centres require large amounts of water to keep servers cool, as well as massive electricity supplies to run the systems around the clock.
Between 2023-2025, the megawatt-energy storage capacity being built in major markets in the US, including Texas, California, and Virginia, more than doubled.
Projections show data-centre energy consumption could rise from 4% to 12% of total US electricity use by 2028. Behind these statistics lie real human stories of those affected.
One such story concerns Beverly and Jeff Morris. Perfect Union, a media outlet focusing on workers’ issues, visited the couple’s home in Mansfield, Georgia.
Georgia has become a region with the sharpest growth in data centres. There are now 105 data centres in the state.
Two reasons make Georgia busy for data-centre development. First, industrial electricity rates in the state are 42% below the national average. Second, Georgia offers substantial tax relief to data centre operators.
But local residents must bear the consequences of living with constant noise, lights that shine through the night, environmental pollution, and astronomically rising electricity bills.
“Paradise” Turns into “Hell” of Pollution
Beverly and Jeff bought their home in Mansfield in 2016. They chose a rural area to escape the bustle of Atlanta.
For them, this plot of land is not just a home but also a shelter and foundation for their farming livelihoods.
“When we found this place, we decided this was the one. It’s perfect,” Beverly said in an interview with Ben Lieberman published on Perfect Union, cited from Platocom, on Friday (22/5/2026).
But their rural paradise was disrupted when Meta Platforms, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, began constructing a giant data centre in 2018 covering 2 million square feet or around 18.5 hectares.
The distance is only 365 metres from Beverly and Jeff’s home. The impact is significant. Beverly shows water pressure at the kitchen tap that seems to be “living half dead.”
Severe contamination prevents Beverly from accessing clean water. She and Jeff had to collect water into bottles for daily use, such as flushing the toilet.
“This is frustrating,” Beverly told Ben Lieberman, as quoted from a video posted on Perfect Union’s Instagram account.
As communities bear great suffering, Meta posted a significantly growing net income of US$62.4 billion in 2023, up 60% from the previous year.
To build the mega data-centre adjacent to the couple’s home, Meta had to cut down pine trees and replace them with pollution-generating buildings. The local ecosystem was damaged and the rural landscape drastically changed.
Not only air pollution, but light pollution also continually disrupts Beverly and Jeff’s nightly life. “The lights are so bright,” Beverly said.
She also showed a video taken during the data centre’s construction. Debris and dust were visible from their window, filling the area with haze. “This is all Meta’s fault,” she said.
Because of Meta, Mansfield’s electricity consumption increased by 34%, reaching 14,975,435 MWh in 2023. Water consumption rose to 200 million gallons per year.
The emergence of Meta’s mega data centres places significant pressure on rural local infrastructure, which was never designed to accommodate large-scale industry.