KTTN presents the following for informational purposes and does not necessarily endorse or oppose data centers. Our responsibility is to present factual information and allow readers to decide for themselves.

— Statement submitted by John Anthony

Data centers are the largely unseen physical infrastructure behind much of modern digital life. Every internet search, cloud-stored photograph, streaming program, online purchase, artificial intelligence request, and countless business transactions ultimately depend on computers operating somewhere.

Those computers are frequently housed in data centers: highly specialized facilities containing servers, data-storage equipment, networking hardware, electrical systems, cooling equipment, security systems, and backup power.

As artificial intelligence and cloud computing expand, data centers are becoming larger and more numerous. The International Energy Agency reported that data centers accounted for about 1.5% of worldwide electricity consumption in 2024, or approximately 415 terawatt-hours. Global data center electricity consumption could more than double to approximately 945 terawatt-hours by 2030, with artificial intelligence expected to be the largest driver of the increase.

The growth brings potential economic and technological benefits, but it also raises important questions about electricity, water, land, taxes, infrastructure, employment, and effects on neighboring communities.

What is a data center?

A data center is a building or group of buildings designed to house computer systems that process, store, and distribute digital information.

Inside are racks containing servers, which are powerful computers designed to operate continuously. Other equipment stores information and connects those servers to customers, businesses, telecommunications networks, and other data centers.

A data center also requires extensive supporting infrastructure. Depending on its size and design, that can include transformers, substations, batteries, backup generators, cooling equipment, water systems, fire suppression, physical security, and multiple high-speed fiber-optic connections.

Some data centers are relatively small and serve a single company or organization. Others are enormous campuses containing thousands of servers and requiring extraordinary amounts of electricity.

The largest are commonly called hyperscale data centers.

Different types of data centers

Not all data centers serve the same purpose.

Enterprise data centers generally support a particular company or organization. Colocation facilities provide space, electricity, cooling, and network connectivity to equipment belonging to multiple customers.

Cloud data centers provide computing resources that customers access remotely instead of purchasing and maintaining all the necessary computer equipment themselves.

Edge data centers are smaller facilities positioned closer to customers to reduce the time required for information to travel between users and servers.

Hyperscale facilities are enormous operations built to handle extremely large amounts of computing, storage, internet traffic, cloud services, or artificial intelligence.

AI-focused data centers can contain large numbers of specialized processors designed to perform the enormous volume of calculations required for artificial intelligence.

What do data centers support?

Data centers support far more than websites. Depending on the facility, operator, and customers, data centers can host, process, store, transmit, or support:

• Websites and internet hosting
• Search engines
• Email
• Cloud computing
• Cloud file storage
• Computer backups
• Artificial intelligence
• AI model training
• Generative AI services
• Online banking
• Credit and debit card processing
• Electronic payment systems
• Financial markets and trading systems
• Online shopping
• Retail inventory systems
• Business accounting
• Payroll systems
• Customer databases
• Business software
• Remote workplace applications
• Medical records
• Hospital information systems
• Pharmacy information systems
• Government databases
• Government websites and online services
• Public safety information systems
• School and university computer systems
• Scientific research
• Weather forecasting
• Climate modeling
• Engineering simulations
• Mapping services
• Navigation applications
• Social media
• Messaging services
• Video conferencing
• Internet-based telephone services
• Streaming television and movies
• Music and audio streaming
• Online gaming
• Digital photograph storage
• Digital video storage
• News websites and digital publishing
• Cybersecurity systems
• Software downloads
• Software updates
• Disaster recovery systems
• Telecommunications services
• Content delivery networks
• Digital advertising
• Online authentication systems
• Transportation and logistics systems
• Airline reservation systems
• Hotel and travel reservation systems
• Manufacturing computer systems
• Supply-chain management
• Internet-connected devices

Not every data center provides every service. Some facilities may be dedicated almost entirely to one company’s operations, while others provide computing and storage resources to thousands of businesses and organizations.

How does a data center work?

When someone enters an address into a web browser, opens an application, streams a movie, requests information from an AI service, or retrieves a document stored in the cloud, a request travels through telecommunications networks to a computer capable of providing the requested information.

That computer may be a server inside a data center hundreds or thousands of miles away.

The server processes the request and sends information back through the network. Depending on the service, the process can occur in a fraction of a second.

Large services distribute information among multiple data centers. Copies of important information may be stored in different locations so a service can continue operating if equipment fails or one facility becomes unavailable.

Why data centers operate around the clock

Digital services are expected to remain available continuously.

Banks cannot routinely shut down their computer systems overnight. Online retailers serve customers across different time zones. Hospitals need continuous access to information. Businesses may operate internationally, and internet users expect websites, streaming services, email, and cloud applications to remain accessible.

Data centers are therefore generally designed for continuous operation.

Redundancy is central to that design. A facility may have multiple electrical feeds, network connections, cooling systems, batteries, generators, and other equipment so the failure of one component does not necessarily interrupt service.

Why data centers use so much electricity

Servers consume electricity while processing information. Storage equipment, networking hardware, security systems, and other electronics also require power.

Cooling adds another significant electrical requirement because virtually all the electricity consumed by computer equipment eventually becomes heat that must be removed.

Artificial intelligence is increasing demand further. AI systems can require enormous numbers of calculations performed by specialized processors operating simultaneously.

The International Energy Agency reported that data centers represented about 1.5% of worldwide electricity consumption in 2024. Their global electricity use has been growing substantially faster than total electricity consumption.

The effect can be much greater locally because data centers are geographically concentrated. A very large facility can place electrical demand comparable to other major industrial operations on a regional grid.

Why data centers need cooling

Thousands of processors operating continuously generate substantial heat.

Electronic equipment functions most reliably within controlled temperature ranges. Excessive heat can reduce performance, shorten equipment life, or cause failures.

Cooling systems can include conventional air conditioning, cooling towers, evaporative cooling, direct-to-chip liquid cooling, immersion technologies, or closed-loop systems that circulate coolant repeatedly.

Different systems have different electricity and water requirements.

How much water do data centers use?

There is no single meaningful water-use figure that applies to every data center.

Water consumption varies according to facility size, climate, cooling technology, workload, operating temperature, and whether recycled or potable water is used.

Some evaporative cooling systems can consume substantial amounts of water. Other facilities use closed-loop systems that repeatedly circulate the same water or coolant and require substantially less continuous water consumption.

Communities considering a proposed facility therefore can ask specifically how much water it will consume rather than assuming that all data centers have similar requirements.

They also can examine where the water will come from, whether drinking water will be used, whether reclaimed water is possible, what happens during drought, and whether local treatment and distribution systems require expansion.

The Positive Aspects of Data Centers

Large private investment

Data centers can represent enormous capital investments. Global investment in the sector has grown rapidly as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence has increased.

A large campus can involve billions of dollars in buildings, servers, electrical systems, cooling equipment, telecommunications infrastructure, and other technology.

That investment can generate substantial economic activity during construction.

Construction jobs

Building a major data center can require electricians, plumbers, engineers, heavy-equipment operators, truck drivers, concrete workers, construction crews, telecommunications technicians, and numerous contractors.

Large campuses developed in phases can produce construction work over several years.

Nearby restaurants, hotels, fuel providers, retailers, equipment suppliers, and other businesses also can receive additional spending associated with construction.

Permanent jobs

After construction, facilities employ technicians, engineers, security employees, maintenance workers, managers, network specialists, and other personnel.

Some positions require specialized technical training and can provide comparatively high wages.

However, permanent employment should be considered separately from construction employment because a completed facility can require considerably fewer workers than were needed to build it.

Tax revenue

A major data center can increase a community’s property tax base and generate revenue for local governments and public services.

Depending on local laws and agreements, revenue may benefit schools, municipalities, counties, fire districts, emergency services, and other taxing jurisdictions.

The amount actually received depends on property assessments, tax rates, exemptions, abatements, and incentives negotiated with developers.

Infrastructure improvements

Data centers can require new electrical substations, transmission lines, fiber-optic connections, roads, water infrastructure, and other improvements.

When developers pay for infrastructure necessary to support their facilities, communities may receive improvements without bearing the entire cost.

Improved telecommunications infrastructure

Data centers require high-capacity fiber-optic connections.

Their development can encourage additional telecommunications investment in a region. Whether nearby homes and businesses directly benefit depends on how those networks are designed and whether providers make additional capacity available locally.

Support for technological development

Artificial intelligence, medical research, weather modeling, scientific simulations, engineering, cybersecurity, and other computationally intensive work require enormous computing resources.

Data centers make it possible to concentrate those resources and make them remotely accessible.

Business efficiency

Cloud data centers allow businesses to rent computing resources instead of purchasing, maintaining, cooling, securing, and periodically replacing large amounts of their own computer equipment.

Smaller businesses consequently can obtain access to computing capabilities that once would have required substantial capital investment.

Potential electrical infrastructure improvements

New data centers sometimes require utilities and developers to construct substations, transmission lines, generating capacity, or other equipment.

Properly planned and financed improvements can expand and modernize portions of an electrical system.

Whether existing customers benefit depends on who owns the infrastructure, how it is financed, and how the equipment is integrated into the wider electrical grid.

The Negative Aspects of Data Centers

Heavy electricity consumption

Electricity consumption is one of the most significant concerns surrounding data center expansion.

The International Energy Agency projects data center electricity consumption will rise substantially as artificial intelligence and other digital services expand. In the United States, data centers are expected to account for roughly half of electricity-demand growth through 2030.

Individual projects can create enormous concentrated loads.

Utilities may need additional power plants, transmission lines, substations, transformers, and other infrastructure to serve them.

Possible effects on electricity rates

Who pays for electrical expansion is an important community issue.

If a data center developer pays the full cost of infrastructure required to serve its facility, existing customers may be protected from much of that expense.

If costs are spread across a utility’s customers, residents, farms, and businesses can face concerns about paying for infrastructure constructed primarily to serve major new loads.

The effect depends on utility regulation, rate structures, contracts, and state law.

Electrical reliability concerns

A large data center can require electricity continuously.

Utilities consequently must determine whether sufficient generation and transmission capacity will remain available during extremely hot or cold weather, equipment failures, or periods of peak demand.

New generation and transmission can strengthen a system when expansion is properly planned. Problems can arise when new demand grows faster than supporting infrastructure.

Water consumption

Water-intensive cooling can create concerns in communities with limited water supplies, drought risk, agricultural demand, or aging water systems.

A proposal’s actual cooling design matters considerably. A facility using closed-loop or low-water cooling technology can have a substantially different impact from one relying heavily on evaporative cooling.

Fewer permanent jobs than some might expect

The financial size of a data center can create expectations of equally large permanent employment.

That is not necessarily the case.

A facility representing billions of dollars in investment may require a large construction workforce but a comparatively small permanent workforce because computer systems are highly automated.

Communities evaluating economic-development proposals can distinguish clearly between temporary construction employment and permanent jobs.

Land use

Large campuses can occupy hundreds of acres.

Additional property can be required for substations, transmission infrastructure, generators, roads, stormwater facilities, cooling systems, and security buffers.

That can convert farmland or undeveloped property to industrial use and change the character of surrounding areas.

Noise

The servers generally operate inside buildings, but cooling equipment, fans, transformers, generators, and other machinery can create noise.

Backup generators also must be periodically tested.

Setbacks, sound barriers, equipment placement, landscaping, and enforceable noise limits can reduce the effect on neighboring properties.

Visual effects

Data centers can be enormous buildings accompanied by security fencing, electrical substations, transmission equipment, generators, and other industrial infrastructure.

Projects constructed near homes or agricultural areas can substantially alter the appearance of a community.

Landscaping, setbacks, screening, lighting requirements, and zoning regulations can reduce some effects.

Environmental effects

A data center’s environmental impact depends partly on where its electricity comes from.

Electricity generated from fossil fuels has a different emissions profile from electricity supplied by nuclear power, wind, solar, hydroelectric, or other lower-emission sources.

Construction, water consumption, backup generators, land development, and eventual replacement of electronic equipment also contribute to a facility’s environmental footprint.

Electronic waste

Servers and other computer components eventually become obsolete.

Operators routinely replace processors, storage equipment, networking hardware, batteries, and other technology. Responsible recycling and disposal are therefore important parts of long-term data center operations.

What happens when a data center loses electricity?

The servers cannot simply be allowed to shut down whenever outside electricity fails.

Batteries and uninterruptible power supplies can provide immediate temporary electricity. Backup generators can then start and maintain operations during longer outages.

Facilities also can have redundant utility connections or other backup arrangements.

These systems are one reason data centers require considerably more infrastructure than an ordinary commercial building.

Are data centers the same as the internet?

No.

The internet is the global network connecting computers and networks. Data centers are physical locations containing many of the computers that provide services through that network.

The distinction is important because the internet existed before today’s enormous cloud and hyperscale data centers.

However, the modern internet experience depends heavily on data centers.

What would happen if data centers did not exist?

Modern society would not simply have a slower internet.

If existing data centers suddenly disappeared, an enormous portion of digital life would stop functioning.

Many websites would become unavailable. Major email systems could disappear. Cloud-stored photographs, documents, databases, and backups could become inaccessible.

Streaming television, music, and online gaming would be severely disrupted. Social media services could not operate in their current form.

Businesses relying on cloud-based payroll, accounting, customer databases, inventory management, communications, and document storage could lose critical systems.

Banking and financial services would face severe disruption because electronic transactions depend on interconnected computing systems.

Hospitals, schools, universities, governments, telecommunications providers, transportation companies, and scientific institutions also would lose access to systems hosted in data centers.

Large-scale artificial intelligence would be particularly affected because current AI systems depend on enormous concentrations of specialized computing equipment.

Would the internet disappear?

Not completely.

The fundamental technologies that allow computers to communicate could continue to exist. Individual companies could operate servers inside their own buildings, and smaller networks could communicate with one another.

That model was common before cloud computing became dominant.

However, many services capable of simultaneously serving millions or billions of users would either disappear or have to be reconstructed across enormous numbers of smaller computer systems.

What year would society revert to without data centers?

There is no precise year.

If modern data centers disappeared while today’s computers, smartphones, fiber-optic cables, satellites, and cellular networks remained, society would not literally return to an earlier historical period.

The digital experience, however, could resemble elements of the late 1980s or early 1990s, when computing was much more localized and before cloud services, streaming media, social networks, large-scale e-commerce, and today’s commercial internet became central to everyday life.

Businesses could again maintain servers on their own premises. Files could be stored primarily on individual computers or local networks. Software could operate locally rather than through cloud services.

People would still have modern computer hardware, making the comparison imperfect. The biggest loss would be the enormous centralized computing and storage capacity that allows digital services to operate globally and almost instantaneously.

How data centers affect local communities

For communities, data centers present an unusual economic-development equation.

A single project can represent an extraordinary private investment and potentially generate substantial tax revenue while requiring relatively few permanent employees compared with a conventional factory of similar financial value.

At the same time, it can become one of the area’s largest electricity customers and potentially a significant water consumer.

Whether a project ultimately benefits a community depends heavily on the agreement reached before construction.

A community receiving substantial tax revenue, developer-funded electrical improvements, responsible water management, appropriate setbacks, enforceable noise standards, and useful infrastructure can experience significant benefits.

The equation changes if residents absorb infrastructure costs, utility rates increase, scarce water supplies are affected, tax incentives substantially reduce public revenue, or neighboring properties experience significant noise and land-use effects.

Questions communities should ask

Before approving a major data center project, local and state officials can determine exactly how much electricity and water the facility is expected to require at full development.

They can establish who will pay for new generating capacity, transmission lines, substations, water infrastructure, roads, and emergency-service requirements.

Officials can determine the projected tax revenue before and after incentives and distinguish temporary construction jobs from permanent employment.

Water agreements can address normal consumption, peak requirements, drought procedures, wastewater, and the use of potable or reclaimed water.

Zoning agreements can address setbacks, noise, lighting, landscaping, generators, building appearance, stormwater, traffic, and future expansion.

Communities also can consider what happens decades later if equipment becomes obsolete or a facility closes, including responsibility for removing structures and restoring the property.

The bottom line

Data centers are no longer simply buildings filled with computers. They have become fundamental infrastructure supporting banking, communications, commerce, entertainment, government, health care, scientific research, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.

Their benefits can be substantial. They can bring billions of dollars in investment, construction activity, permanent technical employment, tax revenue, infrastructure improvements, and the computing resources that make modern digital services possible.

Their disadvantages also can be substantial. Large facilities can consume extraordinary amounts of electricity, use significant quantities of water depending on cooling technology, require expensive infrastructure, occupy large areas of land, create noise, and alter surrounding communities.

Data centers are neither automatically beneficial nor automatically harmful to the communities that host them.

The consequences depend largely on where they are constructed, how they are designed, how electricity and water are supplied, what environmental safeguards are required, how tax incentives are structured, and, critically, who pays for the infrastructure needed to support them.

For communities considering data center development, those details can determine whether a multibillion-dollar project becomes a long-term economic asset or a long-term financial and infrastructure burden.

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