In Maine, it’s a primary election today, so remember to vote! But your voice matters on more than just election days; communities are showing up and winning fights against data centers across the country!
Why talk data centers? PFAS releases, toxic plastic e-waste, noxious air emissions, water contamination, climate-impacting power use, and more! We fight environmental injustice and work to protect communities from exposure to toxic chemicals in drinking water, air, and products, so we’re keeping a close eye on proposed data center developments in communities across Maine.
We applaud the work of towns like Brunswick, Gorham, Westbrook, Sanford, and Scarborough, which passed data center moratoriums to pause data center development while they research the potential impacts in their communities.
We also want to highlight the work of the Governor-appointed advisory council which held their first meeting on June 3rd (we’re coordinating with other health and environmental groups to inform the council). The council was set up to examine potential policies and restrictions aimed at large-scale data centers in Maine and minimize environmental impact, protect electric ratepayers and maintain reliability of the power grid and enable responsible economic development.
Across the country, hyperscale data center projects are being fast-tracked and approved in secrecy behind non-disclosure agreements and closed-door meetings. The impacts of existing data centers provides evidence to know that we need to slow down to fully consider their short and long-term impacts in our communities.
Energy Consumption
Data centers are massive energy guzzlers. One data center campus with a peak demand of one gigawatt (1GW) is equivalent to the annual consumption of 1.8 million people. Their massive energy consumption can disrupt electricity flow to homes, increasing the risk of electrical fires, blackouts, and brownouts. Power outages threaten the safety of residents who cannot access air conditioning during heatwaves, utilize medical devices, or risk carbon monoxide poisoning due to the improper use of generators.
Offloading Costs to Local Communities
An analysis of electricity prices across the country found that monthly electricity costs have gone up as much as 267% over the last five years in locations near substantial data center activity. Without laws to protect consumers from paying for the expensive upgrades to power grids to accommodate Big Tech’s energy demands, reports project increases in electricity bills by 8% nationally and as much as 25% in some regions by 2030.
Data centers often negotiate contracts that secure subsidized rates or fixed-price electricity agreements that shield them from long-term cost volatility. The toxic e-waste management and disposal needs from these facilities is another cost that communities will likely have to deal with.
Water Use
Hyperscale data centers require massive cooling systems, each of which is interconnected with water consumption, energy demands, and environmental impacts.
In water-cooled systems, only fresh drinking water can be used by data centers due to concerns of corrosion and bacterial growth. In addition, the water can’t be recycled – in fact, 80% of it evaporates while the remaining is discharged to municipal wastewater facilities, which struggle to handle the high volume of wastewater produced.
Closed-loop systems, which rely on a concentrated cocktail of chemicals to prevent corrosion, bring nitrite, glycol, and heavy metals at thousands of times the limits set for surface waters when it must be periodically drained to prevent buildup. Closed-loop systems also have higher energy consumption due to the need to maintain circulation pumps and the frequent installation of secondary cooling systems for workers.
Data centers also contaminate fresh water sources by leaking into local water wells and through energy-seeking projects such as large-scale buildouts of gas pipelines and fracking.
Other Environmental Harms
Power generation is the largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the world. In the unbridled frenzy for AI and data center expansion, many tech corporations are assembling microgrids or behind-the-meter energy configurations to bring their data centers online. Microgrids comprised of gas turbines are known to emit harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx), greenhouse gases (GHGs), and hazardous air pollutants. In addition to the massive amounts of energy data centers consume while operating, data centers also rely on diesel generators for backup power, which release pollutants and toxins that cause asthma, cancer, heart attacks, and cognitive decline.
Air-cooled systems are known for their excessive noise and higher energy consumption, as they rely on cooling equipment that can produce noise levels of up to 100 dB. Additionally, this equipment is usually placed on facility roofs, allowing low-frequency sound waves to travel far and wide to impact nearby communities. And these cooling systems often use PFAS-based refrigerants that leak into the surrounding community (1)(2)(3)(4).
An investigation found that more than 230 data center locations were in communities highly overburdened by environmental pollutants. In regions already burdened by public health challenges stemming from environmental racism and gentrification, these troubling health impacts will disproportionately affect communities of color and exacerbate existing health disparities.
False Promises of Economic Development: Tax Subsidies and Job Creation
Across the US, states are disproportionately giving away hundreds of millions in tax breaks to some of the richest companies in history. Nearly 60% of hyperscale data center infrastructure serves Big Tech corporations with a collective market cap approaching $9 trillion USD. And yet cities and states give these corporations major tax breaks to entice data center construction, losing significant potential tax revenue.
Tax breaks given to developers can amount to more than $2 million lost for every permanent, full-time job at a data center. These millions lost in tax revenue could be allocated to desperately needed public services, such as education, public healthcare, schools, transportation, and other vital services that residents depend on.
Data centers create very few permanent jobs. Most jobs created are construction jobs, which can last less than a year, often less than three.
For these reasons, we will continue to support communities across Maine in advocating for responsible rules and strong regulations to hold data centers accountable of environmental and public health impacts, including water and electricity use, generation and disposal of toxic plastic e-waste, and discharge of contaminants like PFAS.
Today and every day, your voice matters – if a data center is being considered in your state or community, you can stand up for health, for justice, and for economic fairness! Contact us to learn more.