This originally appeared in SupplyChainBrain.
Jason Morris, a founding partner and land-use and zoning specialist at Withey Morris Baugh, explains what’s really behind local opposition to the construction of data centers.
For decades, Morris says, data centers were an easy sell to communities seeking commercial and industrial development. “They looked and acted like office buildings, but they had the benefit of very little traffic. Cities saw them favorably.”
Cut to today, and it’s a different story. Communities are seeking to limit or prevent the establishment of data centers. The difference between now and then, says Morris, is the sheer size and number of the newer facilities. Now, local governments are beginning to express concern over the impact of data centers with regard to their energy and water usage, coupled with their relatively small need for local labor. In many cases, localities are revamping their zoning codes to disallow the huge complexes.
To be sure, modern data centers draw large amounts of energy and water from their respective areas, but Morris says the actual amount of resources they require is less than in previous years. “They are judged by the worst use that exists anywhere in the country,” he says, noting that the developers themselves admit to mistakes in the past, including inefficient energy systems and siting too close to neighborhoods. Now, having implemented closed-loop water systems and more efficient energy policies, they are “less of a burden” on local resources.
The real reason behind local opposition to data centers, Morris believes, stems not from opposition to the projects themselves, but to the growth of artificial intelligence. Data centers are merely a physical manifestations of a technology trend that’s raising fears about its potential impact on every aspect of society.
That said, Morris doesn’t believe data center growth will slow. On the contrary, he says, “We have to see the growth of these — our demand for data storage and the cloud is not going away.”