AI companies are rushing to build nationwide Data Center Support their fever growth, many What attracts themsome cities are saying wow, not that fast.
This is the case in St. Louis and St. Charles, Missouri, two cities are just 30 minutes apart in the center of the country.
St. Charles imposed a year in unanimous vote by the city council on August 22 Suspend the construction of new data centers After news broke that a secret data center project might have come to the city, it sparked protests among local residents.
According to a similar moratorium on the head of the city’s planning agency this week in St. Louis: “While the city has a full understanding of the issue and has developed quality land use, environment and other regulations” St. Louis Public Radio. The mayor supports pause.
These cities have good reason to pay attention. The data center is stuffed with thousands of computers to basically handle everything you do online, the bustling demand for electricity and water, and a small amount of land or building space. arrive Generated AI Demand for such facilities has greatly enhanced demand from companies such as OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Meta.
Number of data centers between 2021 and 2024 With the rapid development of AI, we have almost doubled. at the same time, Trump administration’s AI action plan Full support has been provided for building data centers and funnel resources to support them.
Two of the biggest questions about data centers include the amount of water needed to cool servers and the pressure they cause on the grid.
This summer, as I looked at the environmental and energy impacts of these facilities, I heard objections to AI data centers for residents of Pennsylvania and Louisiana. A retired school principal Organized community resistance tells me: “I’m worried about the world I’m leaving for my grandchildren. It’s not safe, it’s not good, we’re going to sell to these big companies. You know, it’s not in their backyard, it’s in my backyard.”
Data center pushback in St. Charles
Hundreds of people appeared at the Town Hall meeting to hear their objections when St. Charles residents learned about their city data center plans. The center, known as the Kulus Project, will sit on About 440 acres.
St. Charles resident Andrew Andrew Gardner told St. Charles Andrew Gardner (St. St. Louis Magazine then.
Residents’ opposition and actions work.
exist August emailShared by St. Louis Public Radio, the developer behind the Cumulus program told St. Charles that they are withdrawing their application for a conditional use license. They said they will be included in community feedback and prepare revisions for recommendations.
A few days later, New York City enacted a new one-year data center construction.
according to St. Louis Public Radiothe company behind the Cumulus project appears to be Google, but it has not been confirmed yet. On the other side of the state, Google is building a $1 billion data center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Google did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.
Pause in the data center, not ban
This is the server room of the data center operated by Lulea Meta Facebook in Sweden.
In St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer supports the suspension of new building permits for data centers, and the city has enacted new regulations instead of banning data centers entirely.
“While I’m concerned about the environmental impact of data centers, utility prices, vibrancy and urban life,” Spencer said in a statement to CNET, “I also recognize their importance to major industries in St. Louis, including biotech, geospatial areas, Agtech, Agtech and health care. My office works closely with my office to allow for the Aldermen and Perose pepecterssprouncty persocty of Spectunctuns of Spectunctuns of Perecorporations”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””’
Currently, Missouri has almost any 50 active data centers Most are located in Kansas City and St. Louis.
