COLORADO SPRINGS — There is a wave of public opinion across the country and in Colorado speaking out about data centers, like the following comments from people at a recent Planning Commission hearing about a proposed center on Colorado Springs' Westside.
"This data center is fundamentally incompatible," one attendee said.
"I'm sorry, but I don't want anymore of my money and resources going to greedy billionaires who lie," another said.
"They want profits and they want them fast," a third attendee said.
At the same time, academic studies on the topic are expanding. There is a long list of researchers taking on various topics and issues related to data centers happening at the School of Mines in Colorado.
"What are the downstream impacts in the sense of how does that impact water systems or electricity systems, the broader energy grid, and then how do we maintain kind of global competitiveness in that space," said Max Brown, PhD, who does research and teaches Energy and Resource Economics at the School of Mines.
Part of Brown's research focus is modeling the future of the nation's electric grid and infrastructure, which includes considering the impact of data centers.
"It's basically a giant electricity consumer, electricity and water consumer that converts all of that energy into words and thoughts and code and equations and data," Brown said.
He points out that AI data center support is not going away, and there is global competition to lead in AI dominance. There is also a wide variable in how individual data centers operate.
"Not every data center is even remotely the same," Brown said.
Some are massive, some are small. The way one uses water and power can be unlike another. Location is also a factor. Power can be more readily supplied by some providers than others.
Brown says there are advantages for anyone with concerns in Colorado over other states because a lot of information about utility services is available to the public and is highly monitored and regulated by the state.
"There's a very different landscape across the country for how reliable that grid is going to be, what consumers are charged, and the process to get there is very different in Colorado than it is in Texas, than it is in North Dakota," Brown said.
Best practice for people with concerns about data centers is to seek out information beyond online searches that often result in opinions formed from speculation and emotion.
"Be involved in that public process as much as you can. It's not to say that every data center is good or bad," Brown said.
At the School of Mines, research is about finding a balance between the rapidly expanding digital world and the resources required to support it.
___
Colorado Springs man held at Aurora ICE facility, separated from four-year-old son
A man is working to get home to his son in Colorado Springs with special needs. He is currently detained at the ICE detention center in Aurora.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
