Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers • Hacker News Board

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#241

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:32 PM UTC

rsoto2 wrote: post #69

redlewel wrote: post #30

I think this is because the demand is so extreme for datacenters now that companies are building them in a manner that disrupts the environment around them. The newer ones are using on-site generators that are insanely loud and require multiples more power than datacenters have historically needed. For a rack with traditional servers with just RAM/CPU/Drives, 5kW is sufficient in most cases. When you have racks that…

Yes, the AI Datacenters are much worse for the environment. xAI is using methane-turbines to power theirs, and they are allowed to pollute your communities because they bribed the Trump admin. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/16/elon-musk... https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/data-centers/elon-musk-... https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1014655584252361

[deleted]

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#242

Post by oceanplexian » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:35 PM UTC

bigfishrunning wrote: post #192

oooyay wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No one ever cared about DCs before now. Society hasn't felt the very real effects of data centers until recently. Power supply being short meant that residential customers have had to pick up the tab for heavy industrial users. We've started to learn just how bad all those dams we built are for the environment and many of them are tied to data center money. Elon Musk waltzed into Memphis and stood up a natural gas…

> Power supply being short meant that residential customers have had to pick up the tab for heavy industrial users. Maybe some kind of progressive pricing for power would be appropriate. I'm not sure if this exists, and correct me if it does, but maybe the second MW should cost an order of magnitude more then the first, and so on.

If only we had a limitless form of energy that comes out of the sky. Or if that doesn't work, maybe there's some miraculous form of energy that can be extracted from rocks, produces no emissions whatsoever, and could power society for thousands of years.

Nah, let's make a really convoluted system to jack up energy prices for everyone, and increasingly rely on a dwindling supply of non-renewable energy.

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#243

Post by AnthonyMouse » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:40 PM UTC

ecommerceguy wrote: post #97

redlewel wrote: post #30

I think this is because the demand is so extreme for datacenters now that companies are building them in a manner that disrupts the environment around them. The newer ones are using on-site generators that are insanely loud and require multiples more power than datacenters have historically needed. For a rack with traditional servers with just RAM/CPU/Drives, 5kW is sufficient in most cases. When you have racks that…

Is there really demand for 4000 plus data centers? I have a feeling that's shooting a bit above the mark (10x).

The whole thing is a motte and bailey game. The largest of cloud companies might build a data center which is 1GW. There won't be 4000 of those and it won't be next to your house. A huge number of commercial office buildings already have a 100kW data center in them, and have for decades, without anyone having any reason to know or care. For those 4000 is certainly an underestimate.

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#244

Post by TitaRusell » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:42 PM UTC

caconym_ wrote: post #64

chasd00 wrote: post #7

No one ever cared about DCs before now. I think there’s a lot of social media influence from nation state competitors going on to try and slow SOTA development in the US. Ironically, There’s enough issues with the DC buildout going on that even with 100% public opinion support it would still be significantly delayed. The behind the meter power generation isn’t going well. There’s only so many gas fired turbines on th…

> No one ever cared about DCs before now. This isn't true. People were starting to mobilize against crypto datacenters in the late 2010s and early 2020s^[1][2], long before the current AI-fueled building frenzy. > I think there’s a lot of social media influence from nation state competitors going on to try and slow SOTA development in the US. It's fairly well documented that this is happening to some degree, but as a…

My country banned all hyperscalers. Has nothing to do with China- I live in a densely populated country that doesn't need the chump change from Google and Microsoft.

Ugly giant buildings that take up valuable land and require lots of infrastructure meanwhile providing no jobs are a very bad deal.

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#245

Post by ThunderBee » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:42 PM UTC

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #237

98codes wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think the average person actually knows anything concrete about them. The average person around them knows quite a bit about the noise level, and how far it carries. They're starting to learn about the effect consistent noise at that level has on their mental & physical well-being as well.

> The average person around them knows quite a bit about the noise level, and how far it carries. Do they? How much noise do you imagine comes from a data center that isn't operating a gas turbine?

I believe there’s been a number of investigative journalists/ YouTubers that have looked into this and it can be quite staggering. Not just human audible noise but infrasound and ultrasound as well. IIRC Ben Jordan’s video “ Datacenters Behaving Like Acoustic Weapons” would probably be a good place to start.

They could build these data centers to eliminate the noise but it’s cheaper to ruin the livability of surrounding areas.

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#246

Post by chasd00 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:43 PM UTC

Casteil wrote: post #213

chasd00 wrote: post #7

No one ever cared about DCs before now. I think there’s a lot of social media influence from nation state competitors going on to try and slow SOTA development in the US. Ironically, There’s enough issues with the DC buildout going on that even with 100% public opinion support it would still be significantly delayed. The behind the meter power generation isn’t going well. There’s only so many gas fired turbines on th…

>No one ever cared about DCs before now. Fewer people cared, sure.. but it's because until recently they weren't eclipsing power consumption of extremely energy-heavy industries, noticeably driving local residential energy prices up. They also weren't so heavily noise polluting nor were they typically built in places where their noise pollution affected so many people.

where does the noise pollution come from? GPU fans? What's more noisy about a DC filled with CPUs and GPUs than a DC filled with just CPUs. I can imagine generators being noisy but that wouldn't be anything different than regular data centers. Also, so few DCs for the AI buildout are actually online where are the noise measurements taken from?

I understand if people don't want a DC near them i just don't understand why they care now. I have some pretty big ones about 3miles from me and next door to both are residential areas and businesses. In fact, some of the biggest ones where i live (Dallas) are so understated you have to know it's a datacenter beforehand to even realize what you're looking at. There are some really large ones in Carrolton TX that are nestled right up to neighborhoods, i bet 95% of the people don't even know they're there and the 5% that do probably work there or host there.

the carrolton dc https://maps.app.goo.gl/mv3wo96ZTuhRBkGy5

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#247

Post by cucumber3732842 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:44 PM UTC

kranke155 wrote: post #205

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Site selection also isn't very thoughtful. A lot of pre-AI datacenters were placed a good distance away from places where people live, but time to operation seems to be the overwhelming priority now which is pushing them to build right in the middle of or next to developed areas.

I don’t understand why they’re doing this? Is extending the grid to their shiny new DC so expensive they’d rather build on top or right next to housing? Is it the water supply ? I don’t understand why someone would do something so clearly self defeating

> Is extending the grid to their shiny new DC so expensive

Yes.

Source: learned more than I want to about solar farm development.

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#248

Post by cucumber3732842 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:46 PM UTC

neutronicus wrote: post #147

SoftTalker wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what they should do. Datacenters don't need to be in anyone's backyard. The US has vast amounts of unused land as well as urban brownfields that are sitting empty. Put them there.

You're not getting it into an urban brownfield unless it comes with price controls on energy. I live amongst the urban brownfields of Baltimore and our politicians are under tons of pressure to stop data center projects (and to tar and feather utility executives).

>(and to tar and feather utility executives)

Has anyone thought about perhaps tar and feathering the politicans and bureaucrats that wrote all the rules that make greenfield development with a transmission line tap a non-starter?

The developers would looooove to not deal with brownfields, not have pissed off neighbors, not deal in complex urban sites, etc, but greenfield above a tiny size is effectively outlawed piecemeal in many states.

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#249

Post by cucumber3732842 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:49 PM UTC

alistairSH wrote: post #90

Aurornis wrote: post #20

I agree that I don’t want a data center in my backyard either. What’s missing from this strange conversation is discussion about how many data center proposals are near residential areas. I tried to look for one in my state and a few surrounding areas and couldn’t find any. There was an amusing story about how data center protestors had to organize expensive bus trips to get the protesters out to the data center site…

And on the flip side, I live in Fairfax County, VA and there are data centers EVERYWHERE. Especially if I cross into Ashburn (home of AOL and stuff) - literally mixed in with large townhome developments. And the current plan - building a data center in Canaan Valley - is a whopper... 785 MW natural gas power plant on site with diesel generator backups (solely for the data center, not sold back to grid), 500+ acres of…

>not sold back to grid)

They'd probably love to sell spare capacity back to the grid but the way interconnection is handled they'd likely be on the hook for a bunch of other upgrades to facilitate that hence why they're not.

You can't "just" add generation to the capacity to the grid without $5-15mil (could be way more but that'll usually torpedo a project) of cost.

Re: Most Americans say "not in my backyard" to AI data centers

#250

Post by cucumber3732842 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 7:52 PM UTC

neutronicus wrote: post #155

dylan604 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such an obvious concern that it's hard to understand how the GP didn't think of it as well. Clearly, people don't always consider all the things and get focused in so they can't see the forest for the trees.

It also doesn't necessarily matter if the data centers actually raise electricity rates. Regardless of whether or not they do, you can block their construction and try to horse-trade it for relief on energy prices.

>It also doesn't necessarily matter if the data centers actually raise electricity rates.

>Regardless of whether or not they do, you can block their construction and try to horse-trade it for relief on energy prices.

So in other words burn the credibility and reputation of whatever you're using for that purpose so you can pull a quick "fuck you got mine" to the tune of several cents per kwh off your bill.

That sort of policy making is not sustainable and is exactly the sort of selfish shortsighted thinking that birthed the current political climate.

Edit: At leas you're honest about it. The usual peddlers of such stuff are in denial about what they're doing so they can't be made to understand the tradeoffs.