US Campaigns Spend $45m Attacking AI Data Centres

The convergence reflects broad public unease. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in June found that 77% of Americans were worried that data centres push up electricity bills, while two-thirds of Democrats and half of Republicans said they would oppose one in their community. Michael Franz of the Wesleyan Media Project said the issue lets Democrats raise environmental concerns while letting Republicans campaign against large corporations. Residents' complaints, Fox News reported, centre on electricity prices, water use and the few permanent jobs the buildings create: a single facility can operate with 50 employees or fewer. Microsoft settled on Quincy, a farming town of about 8,100 people in central Washington, because of its affordable land, cool climate and the abundant hydropower of the Columbia River.

Microsoft holds up Quincy as evidence that the facilities pay their way. Data-centre tax revenue there has helped support a modern high school and a hospital, and the city has recently opened a new aquatic centre. A $31 million water-recycling plant built with the city saves an estimated 138 million gallons a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The company says future sites will use closed-loop cooling and that it will ask utilities to set rates covering its own energy use and grid upgrades rather than passing the cost to households. Quincy's former mayor, Patty Martin, still urges the town to weigh its long-term water and electricity needs. President Donald Trump has told states to keep building, conceding only that the industry could "use a little public relations help". Darrell West of the Brookings Institution said governors now face heavy pressure to slow construction because of public opposition.