Posted on 07/12/2026 9:24:17 AM PDT by PROCON
The digital economy runs on data centers, a vital core of modern infrastructure most people never see. But there’s a debate brewing about data centers, with plenty of misinformation aimed at slowing data center development and, in some cases, halting it altogether. The Goldwater Institute has put together the following Free-Market Guide to Data Center Infrastructure to dispel some of the data center misconceptions.
Is it just “Big Tech” that needs data centers? What is really driving their growth?
No, it’s not just about “Big Tech.” Data centers are the 21st-century version of a power plant or water tower, providing the essential “digital flow” for every sector of the modern economy.
Hospitals rely on data centers for real-time access to electronic health records; banks use them to process millions of secure transactions per second; and manufacturing plants deploy them to power smart assembly lines. Every time you back up a photo, use GPS, stream a show, or when a student accesses an online portal for homework, a data center is involved.
Since every digital action requires a physical home, data centers need immense scale to support the global economy. What looks like an oversized warehouse is a highly engineered environment housing tens of thousands of servers operating with near-zero downtime. This necessitates specialized cooling, high-capacity fiber, and massive on-site power distribution. By building on large campuses, developers can grow in phases to meet the skyrocketing demand for AI and cloud computing while maintaining a predictable, high-value footprint.
Are data centers “resource hogs” that will drain local water supplies?
No, this claim is outdated and ignores modern technological innovation.
Data centers are among the most water-efficient industrial facilities ever built. Nationwide, data centers consume less than 0.05 percent of total U.S. freshwater withdrawals, a tiny fraction compared to agriculture, thermoelectric power generation, and manufacturing. Furthermore..
(Excerpt) Read more at goldwaterinstitute.org ...
lol. Trump does that all the time if states won’t obey him. I guess you have a problem with our outstanding president.
The contamination was in the wastewater treatment system, not the drinking water system.
Another NIMBY nut
The Goldwater Institute could not find even a single negative? No credibility.
“Closed loop systems still contaminate the water supply.”
“How ignorant!”
“What is your opinion?”
AI is a fraud and data centers should not be permitted.
When will we reach Peak Data Center ?
“Nationwide, data centers consume less than 0.05 percent of total U.S. freshwater withdrawals...”
0.05% is a lot of freshwater where we live in Arizona. If Big Tech want to build data centers where water is scarce, then build a desalination plant on the coast and pipe the water in.
You'd be surprised how useful AI can be.
and data centers should not be permitted.
Same prevailing attitude chased manufacturing out of the country. "I don't want that factory near me".
So what is claimed in this article is false?
Serious question, because the same debate is happening in my state and there are considerations of proposing laws to ban them.
But, I don’t want to agree with something based on false internet rumor about how horrific they are - if in fact they are not.
Perhaps the technology will also get smaller with time, like most tech has.
I thought that comment about “destroying the water supply” was yours. I didn’t notice that you were replying to someone else. I was on my cell phone and my eyes are not too sharp these days.
Many of the new data centers are deploying their own on site energy sources.
Ah you were being facetious. I’m a little slow to catch on to things these days.
NOT KW! IT’S KWHRs. I’m an EE
Sigh. Nowadays, this seems to be one of those subjects that just can’t be discussed rationally and un emotionally anymore, like Ukraine or, for a lot of people, Trump.
It’s on us, and it’s coming, as is AI.
I do find Elon Musk’s objectives with respect to AI fascinating, and he is absolutely not blowing smoke up anybody skirt on it, or fantasizing. The last starship launch, I believe, had a prototype for their Pezz dispenser launcher that will eject modularized data centers into space.
He’s serious about it. Given what he has done, I find it hard to doubt his intentions and his ability to reach that goal. They are even talking about putting data centers in orbit around the moon.
All that said in my previous post about Musk and his intentions, I keep in mind that the Dark Skies leftist idiots will soon join the fray on that and have injunctions in court to keep him from putting all those satellites in space.
I absolutely detest those people. They made a move in my town, and got ordinances passed to limit the types of light fixtures. You can have on the outside of your house, what hours they can be used, all that crap.
In any case, I find it hard to believe that the data mining facility could cause a 50% rise in utility rates all by itself. Who said that the data mining facility caused rate increases?
A quick search did not bring up anything about such a large increase.
For example this talks about an 8.5% increase from REMC back in 2025: https://www.facebook.com/SEIREMC/posts/-rate-update-coming-in-october-beginning-in-october-a-small-rate-adjustment-will/1340555474739853. Nothing like 50%.
The wumao alone are believed to be just a little over the total number in the US Army and possibly as many as 4 times the number. That doesnt count the ziganwu. They are very effective with low information types on places like fakebook.
Others have adopted a similar strategy and occasionally show up around here, especially the volunteers types, but for some reason those are applauded.
Oh definitely. One can’t drive thru the neighborhood without hearing and feeling it. Thankfully it is a smaller facility, but still, our utility rates went up right after it started operations. Heck, the local utilities even built a substation for it, both electric and gas.
Whether I’m conservative or liberal has nothing to do with it, to realize the dangers these things pose. The fact that you support it leads me to doubt your moral and ethical standings. You’d rather see people, animals, insect life, farmlands, eco systems, destroyed so these things can be built? Remember all this when you either have no water to drink, or it’s contaminated.
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