Key Takeaways:
- The Great Lakes region is becoming a hub for data centers, with companies like Microsoft and Amazon building large facilities in the area.
- Data centers require significant amounts of water for cooling, which can strain local water resources and potentially harm the environment.
- The Great Lakes Compact, a 2005 accord, restricts the use of Great Lakes water to within the regional basin, but data centers are finding ways to access this water through local municipalities.
- Communities are fighting back against data center development, citing concerns about water usage, pollution, and environmental impact.
- Data center companies are pushing back, using lawsuits and economic incentives to overcome local opposition.
Introduction to the Issue
The Great Lakes region, home to the largest single deposit of freshwater on the planet, is facing a new challenge: the growing demand for water from data centers. Tom Hermes, a farmer in Perkins Township, Ohio, is concerned about the impact of a new data center being built near his farm. The data center, operated by Aligned Data Centers, will use a closed-loop, air-cooled system for cooling its computers, but Hermes is still worried about the strain on local water resources. With the shoreline of Lake Erie at its lowest level in years, the region is already struggling with the effects of drought and warmer water temperatures.
The Growth of Data Centers in the Great Lakes Region
The Great Lakes region has become an attractive location for data centers due to its proximity to major cities like Chicago, Toronto, and Detroit. Companies like Microsoft and Amazon are building large facilities in the area, which require significant amounts of water for cooling. In Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, Microsoft is building a data center that will use up to 8.4 billion gallons of municipal water from Lake Michigan every year. Similar projects are underway in Indiana and Michigan, with locals expressing concerns about the environmental impact and water usage.
The Environmental Impact of Data Centers
Data centers consume large amounts of water, with the average facility using around 300,000 gallons per day. This water is often warmed significantly and discharged back into local wastewater systems or the environment, potentially harming flora, fauna, and human consumers. Even closed-loop systems that reuse water repeatedly require millions of gallons of water to operate. The Great Lakes Compact restricts the use of Great Lakes water to within the regional basin, but data centers are finding ways to access this water through local municipalities.
Community Resistance and Data Center Pushback
Communities are fighting back against data center development, citing concerns about water usage, pollution, and environmental impact. In Fife Lake, Michigan, residents successfully opposed a data center project, while in Indiana and other areas, similar stories of successful opposition have played out. However, data center companies are pushing back, using lawsuits and economic incentives to overcome local opposition. In Michigan’s Saline Township, a community of around 400 people, OpenAI and Oracle used a representative company to successfully sue the local authority and build a massive facility despite opposition from residents and the elected board.
Economic Incentives and Community Benefits
Data center companies argue that their presence is a net gain for Great Lakes communities, providing jobs and investment over the course of years. Aligned has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Perkins Township, the local school system, and a career center, and has been granted a 15-year tax exemption from local authorities. Local municipalities that support these facilities claim that the data centers will increase tax revenue and help rebuild aging infrastructure such as water delivery systems. However, many argue that these investments are not worth the long-term price the community may pay, including concerns about water pollution and environmental degradation.
Concerns and Uncertainties
Amanda Voegle, a resident of Perkins Township, is concerned about the water usage and potential pollution from the data center. She points to a past incident where the construction site was found to be the source of contamination of a river that flows into Lake Erie. Voegle is also experiencing power surges at her workplace, which she suspects may be related to the data center. With the data center’s water usage and source still unclear, Voegle and other residents are left with more questions than answers. As the data center industry continues to grow in the Great Lakes region, it remains to be seen how communities will balance the economic benefits with the potential environmental costs.
