To remove consumer's concerns that the huge AI data centers being built will force rate increases upon normal consumers. These AI data center companies "guarantee" they will build, bring, or buy the resources for their electricity needs as well as pay for the new infrastructure necessary to deliver said power. In addition, these companies agree to invest in local communities and contribute to a more reliable grid overall in the community.
It does not look like the Ratepayer Protection Pledge has made an impact on the electricity use of Data Centers. Neighborhoods are seeing their utility rates going up already. Many are attempting to fight back against these data centers being established in their areas. The main problem is that residents are limited in their funds to legally battle against these huge operations that seem to have unlimited funding to fight, and ultimately win, legal battles (simply because they exhaust the resources of those fighting the battle).
A second issue with Data Centers water usage. Our own Bart's Bantering speaks of what is happening in Utah with data centers now wanting more of the nearby receding water supply (in the middle of a long-term drought no less). In 2017, James Hamilton, in his Perspectives Blog, identified Water Consumption as an unaddressed Data Center issue (image above). On October 17, 2025, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy investigated power and water use by existing Data Centers and found a mid-sized Data Center consumes as much water as a small town and larger ones consume as much as a city of 50,000 people. Newer AI centers use as much electricity as 100,000 homes (or more). The Data Center planned for Wyoming will use more electricity than every home in the state combined. A study by Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) and the University of Houston say Data Centers in Texas will use 399 billion gallons of water by 2030. This would be the equivalent of dropping the water level in Lake Mead by more than 16 feet a year. And that's just the data centers in Texas.
Why do Data Centers need water? They use evaporative cooling (which uses water) because it is cheaper than using air conditioning. What about reclaimed or recycled water? That water used to go back into the water supply. If Data Centers claim that water for their evaporative cooling needs, the water will not be returned to the municipal water supply causing many issues. For example, removing water from rivers or lakes but not returning reclaimed or recycled water leaves behind high concentrations of salts and other contaminants.
There are alternatives to the water issue. For example, closed-loop water systems (which the Bellagio Fountain uses in Las Vegas) but these require more electricity. Then there is immersion cooling where the item is fully submerged in liquid, like synthetic oil, which removes the heat but not the electricity. This solution is very expensive and, of course, Data Centers want to operate on the least amount of costs possible. So, taking your water is the least expensive option for them but the most devastating option for We The People. Up to 43% of the largest Data Centers are located in areas that have been experiencing extreme water stress (drought).
Data Center operators are reticent about giving specific numbers about how much electricity and water their centers consume. The only way to know for sure is to watch the water table in your area; however, by the time the true consumption numbers are known, the damage is already done. Google reported it used more than 5 billion gallons of water in 2023 and acknowledging 31% of that came from medium or high water scarcity watersheds.
The third issue with Data Centers is Land. They cover hundreds of acres using steel, concrete, and paved surfaces destroying land that used to be farms, forest, or housing. Not only that, but they will need permanent supply routes (roads, airports, trains, etc.). These facilities require 500-800 acres of land with hyperscale facilities exceeding 1,000 acres (1.6 square miles). Besides sheer acreage, they need to be close to powerplants, water supplies, and, of course, fiber internet connections. These requirements make it sound like the perfect place for a data center is in the middle of your city. Instead, they are choosing to take forest lands, farm lands, and homes (many through public domain laws, kicking farmers and residents out of their land/homes in favor of big tech). Some people advocate for locating these Data Centers away from homes, schools, and hospitals.
A fourth issue is noise. The generators and fans generate noise; however, the level is below the threshold. Yet, when you record the hum, and then remove that noise which is the hum, you can finally hear the birds. Some people say they can feel the vibrations through the walls of their home. We need to remember that thresholds do not account for 24/7 constant low-level noise. Exposure to chronic noise can lead to serious health problems.
The fifth issue is health. Health of the people nearby, health of the land, health of the animals (both wild and domestic). Some suggest cancer rates will rise in the areas near data centers. There is also the chemicals put off by these data centers that pollute both the ground water and the land. Data Centers also affect air quality as they expel the heat generated by the equipment through vents to the outdoors.
A sixth issue is revenue: state, county, city. Many areas are offering tax abatements or other tax breaks for Data Centers to build in their area. This means that the governments are not receiving taxes from these huge Data Centers. The length of time these abatements or other tax breaks are in effect varies on the location. Data Centers can be granted these abatements/breaks for as few as one year or as many as 15 or more years. So, there will be less tax revenue to cover the areas we use that money for, such as schools, roads, public facilities, and government (health department, fire department, police department, etc.).
The seventh issue with Data Centers is personal privacy. These Data Centers collect, store, then sell your personal data. Everything from health records to driving records to what you purchase and what bills you pay. Of course, they will tell you the data is "aggregated" and personally identifying info is removed; but, in reality, that takes effort and most won't put the effort into doing it. But, you won't know unless someone tells you. The only thing you will notice is how, when you say something around a 'listening unit' (like Alexa, Siri, Google, Tesla, and others), a couple days later, you start receiving ads, notices, emails, and the like about whatever you were discussing.
An eight issue is the local economy. Yes, these Data Centers are supposed to bring jobs to the area; however, they are also bringing in temporary employees who have the knowledge/experience needed for the Data Center. These temporary workers need shelter causing the price of rent to go up in the area.
Current Data Centers are running from office parks but those Data Centers are not running AI which uses "large language models." These large-scale AI Data Centers consume more power and water than anything that existed before them, and they need larger facilities to house all the hardware used to process the data.
What are these Data Centers capturing? For individuals, everything you put 'on the cloud' like your social media accounts, photos, videos, and documents. For businesses, whatever data the business collects. For public utilities, it's your utility usage and payment history. For government, well, just think about all the different government offices, agencies, departments, bureaus there are that make up local, state, and Federal government and what kind of data they collect. If it's digital and available through the internet, you can bet that info is stored on a server somewhere.
Who owns the Data Centers? Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google, and CTS are the largest owners. CTS caters to small businesses allowing them to 'rent space' to store their IT structure.
Who stores their data at these Data Centers? Healthcare, Insurance, Merchants, Governments, and individuals. If the data is sent "to the cloud" it is actually being housed at one of these Data Centers.
According to Data Center Map, there are currently 4287 Data Centers in the US. You can drill down by state, city, and even street level to locate individual Data Centers. There is not a single state in the union that does not have at least 3 Data Centers with some states having over 200. Virginia beats all the states with a current total of 603 Data Centers, followed closely by Texas with 461.
Worldwide, there are currently 11,455 Data Centers located in 179 countries. The US has the most at 4287 followed by the UK with 530, Germany with 513, China with 369, France with 349, and India with 302. Just in case you'd like to know, Russia has 183 and Israel has 66. Even Iran has 19 of them. Somalia has one (I suppose that's so they can keep track of all the money generated by the fraud the Somalian "refugees/migrants" are committing here in the US).
The Congress information page tells us there are no legally binding energy standards for privately owned Data Centers. While they do need to conform to building code and other regulations, rules, and laws, there are none that specifically apply to Data Centers.
As discussed in my March 10, 2026 ANP Article we know that these companies will find some way to pass the cost on to the consumers. It is the way of business. When their overhead costs go up, the costs of what they produce or service they offer also goes up. Consumers can then pay the increased cost, try to find an alternative, or stop using that product or service all together. However, unless you remove your footprint from the internet entirely, the Data Centers will still have your data.
Those are some of the exact words used by Google’s censors, aka 'Orwellian content police,' in describing many of our controversial stories. Stories later proven to be truthful and light years ahead of the mainstream media. But because we reported those 'inconvenient truths' they're trying to bankrupt ANP.
