Karen Feridun
1,000 signatures reached
To: State governors and utility regulators
Resist the Data Center Frenzy
We are, without a doubt, in the midst of a data center boom. And, as is so often the case with booms, frenzied enthusiasts wildly overestimate the opportunities they create and wildly underestimate their impacts on the public, the environment, health, and safety.
Unfortunately, we are also in the midst of a climate crisis at exactly the time when a reckless dictator and his cronies deny it and do everything to promote and enable the industry responsible for it.
Trump recently said he wants to power data centers with coal. Meanwhile, the largest natural gas plant in the country is being planned to serve the proposed Homer City data center in Pennsylvania. To be fair, not all of the centers being proposed would run on fossil fuels. Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Microsoft plans to revive the notorious Three Mile Island nuclear facility to power its data center.
The need for state governments to protect us and future generations has never been greater. We are calling on you to resist the claims of the enthusiasts and deniers and do your own careful analyses of this unprecedented moment and of the actual demand for data centers and their adverse impacts. Do not allow another manufactured boom to create a new market for fossil fuels.
Why is this important?
As is the case with every passing boom, we are told that we need to get on the data center bandwagon because of the jobs they will bring. An industry newsletter noted that “the communities most vocal about opposition to more data centers appear to be ones where people already know what living close to data centers is like,” citing the small number of jobs they create as one reason. “There’s not an easy solution on this front given that most data centers require few employees, and increasing data center automation will shrink workforces even further.”
Data centers are known for the vast amount of energy they consume, but they also use a massive amount of water. “Data centres consume water directly for cooling, in some cases 57% sourced from potable water, and indirectly through the water requirements of non-renewable electricity generation,” according to a 2021 study. However, the author noted “issues of transparency with less than a third of data centre operators measuring water consumption.”
We will deliver your signatures to all state governors and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).
Pennsylvania signers, we ask that you take an additional step. The Pennsylvania PUC is currently accepting comments on data centers and their impact on the grid. Meanwhile, three legislators have announced their plans to introduce a bill that would accelerate data center permitting. In March, our governor convened the closed-door “Bolting Into Action” summit wherein 225 stakeholders “worked together to identify and address hypothetical planning and permitting challenges for a cutting-edge data center and power generation campus in southwestern Pennsylvania.”
We have created a form that makes it easy to submit a comment that we will enter onto the PUC docket on your behalf and share with the legislature and Governor Shapiro. You can submit a comment using our EZ form here.