As the popularity of artificial intelligence grows, so do the concerns over the data centers needed to power the new technology. Many Alabama counties have considered banning the centers outright, while supporters see them as a positive engine for economic growth.
1819 News reporter Craig Monger and CEO Bryan Dawson discussed data center pros and cons on the latest episode of “1819 News: The Podcast” and addressed many common concerns, including their impact on health, the environment and utilities costs.
“I believe we need to focus first on transparency,” Dawson began. “I think we need to look at the power grid and see if it can be supported and are there solutions there. We need to talk about the environmental impact and the wastewater that may be dumped back into the water table, and look at regulation and things like that that can be done. And ultimately, is there actually going to be a financial benefit to the cities and localities where these things are being built? Or are we going to give tax breaks to them? And then we just have these horrible, noisy, ugly things that could potentially be stripping us of our power, causing our energy rates to go up, and dumping nasty stuff back into the water table, and then get no financial incentives. I think that's the concern that I continue to hear, and I think that all of those things can be mitigated.”
Monger cautioned against knee-jerk reactions to another hot-button political issue, but agreed that many legitimate questions needed answering.
“It's a brave new world that we're going into, and nobody really knows the effects that AI is going to have on the economy, what it's going to do to people's jobs. There's a lot of concern there. So some people oppose them for those reasons,” Monger said. “...And we've heard this song before. We were promised grand things of economic development and investment and jobs. All of this stuff is going to get brought here because we're going to invest in this massive project. And then what happens is people find that where they live is uglier, louder and more expensive… If all your experience is grand promises followed by something that just makes where you live uglier and more expensive, then I think that you should demand certain answers from the people that are coming and put this in that are coming to install these things.”
Monger suggested that more long-term studies were needed to truly know data centers’ potential negative impacts.
Both U.S. Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) have voiced support for data centers, saying they were needed to maintain a technological edge over China. President Donald Trump has also been working to ensure electricity costs are not passed onto local community residents.
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