Residents Increasingly Reject Data Centres, Warning of Major Disasters
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Opposition to the construction of data centres is becoming increasingly widespread in the United States, given the impact on the environment and household finances.
Data centres that are ‘thirsty’ for electricity and energy have caused residents to shoulder ballooning electricity bills. In addition, some whose homes are located near data centres claim to be experiencing a clean water crisis.
This issue has become a hot topic of discussion among various community groups and has escalated into a political issue. One protest action was carried out by a group of comedians and employees of the beverage company Liquid Death. They highlighted the large amount of water required to cool the operations of artificial intelligence (AI)-based data centres.
Their campaign idea was quite eccentric: creating a satirical advertisement advocating the use of urine to cool data centres. The idea was presented in a 90-second video produced together with Garage Beer.
The video also featured former NFL star Jason Kelce. He is seen holding a bottle of urine while walking towards a data centre.
“We want your urine, give us your urine. Let’s pee on computers to save humanity,” Kelce sang in the advertisement.
The data centre issue has also entered the political agenda in the US. Florida Congressman Byron Donalds introduced a draft regulation requiring private developers to bear the full investment costs of data centre development.
The data centre issue has also coloured the Senate election race in Ohio. The region is ‘home’ to various large-scale data centres, one of which is a 10-gigawatt data centre campus in Pike County with an investment value exceeding US$500 billion.
The Democratic Party candidate, Sherrod Brown, voiced his opposition to data centre construction during his campaign. He is competing against the Republican incumbent, Jon Husted.
“If voter perception of data centres is not improved soon, the rejection campaign will spread beyond Ohio,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) stated, as quoted from CNBC International.
Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro has signed an executive order to establish strict standards for data centre development. The regulation requires developers to pay all costs for new power plants, transmission networks, distribution, and supporting infrastructure needed for projects.
Developers are also required to commit to engaging with local stakeholders, as well as prioritising the recruitment and training of local workers.
The regulation from Shapiro—who is widely tipped to be eyeing a presidential run in 2028—also highlights the issue of water conservation. Developers are required to comply with very strict water usage and environmental protection standards.