About 100 Sheboygan County residents packed Uptown Social for the city’s second educational forum on data centers. University of Michigan professor Ben Green discussed research on potential community impacts, including higher utility costs and the limited number of permanent jobs.
Green’s study, published as “What Happens When Data Centers Come to Town”, indicated that in the locations studied, energy costs largely ended in the laps of ratepayers with wholesale electricity costs rising as much as 267% over five years in areas near the centers. He also warned that many operate on privately-owned gas turbines that, depending upon local laws, could operate without emissions controls and, when combined for all DC installations, can exceed the greenhouse gas emissions of some nations. The Environmental Protection Agency, he said, has given exemptions from emissions laws due to the critical infrastructure nature of the centers. He also warned of the constant noise pollution associated with them.
Impacts on water was also studied, showing that while cooling the massive installations is the primary use, one must also consider water needed to produce the electricity running data centers, which Green said amounts to around half of the total water demand. The combination of cooling and energy production was shown to have impacted water tables and aquifers employed by the centers.
Green summarized his study as showing that Data Center tax breaks create a bad deal for states and citizens by benefiting the world’s wealthiest companies and executives at the expense of the public and the environment, and that repealing tax breaks would help equalize the costs and benefits of data centers, and honor public sentiment regarding them.
Transparency is a bare minimum requirement, and Data Centers should not be able to sign secret contracts or enforce Non-Disclosure Agreements. He said the centers should report how much energy and water they consume, should pay for grid upgrades, should not receive discounted energy rates, and should be on the hook for energy infrastructure that’s built for them even if they cease operations.
As for employment, construction is the heavy-lifter for jobs, because once a facility is fully operational, even a giant center only employs only a few dozen people, and he said that states rarely enforce penalties when employment falls short of stated expectations.
Green agreed that Sheboygan’s moratorium period used to develop zoning ordinances is a good idea, and if a data center is not desired, then the municipality should work with the state on restrictions.
Sheboygan currently has no data center projects underway, and the Common Council approved its one-year moratorium in July.
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