These two cities are pushing again to data centers. Here are what they are worried

Amid a rush in the country by the artificial intelligence companies for construction Data centers To support their feverish growth, and many Languages ​​to attract themSome cities say stand, not so quickly.

This is the case in Saint Louis and St. Charles, Missouri, two cities just 30 minutes in the heart of the country.

On August 22, Saint Charles imposed a unanimous vote by the city council, for one year Endowment on the construction of the new data center After the news broke out about the secret data center project, it may come to the city, which sparked protests from the locals.

In St. Louis, the head of the planning agency in that city this week suggested a similar stop “while the city is developing a full understanding of the issue and developing the use of quality lands, the environment, and other regulations,” according to a memorandum he was martyred in. St. Louis General Radio. It is a temporary stop supported by the mayor.

There is a good reason to worry these cities. Data centers, stuffed with thousands of computers to deal with everything you do online, and you need electricity and water, and there is no small space of land or construction. access AI Tolide It greatly raised the demand for these facilities by companies including Openai, Google, Microsoft and Meta.

Between 2021 and 2024, the number of data centers in The United States has doubled in rapid progress in artificial intelligence. At the same time, and AI’s action plan for Trump Administration Full support for building data centers and directing resources to support them.

Two of the largest concerns related to the data centers include the abundant amount of water needed to cool the servers and the strain that it causes on the electrical network.

I heard objections to artificial intelligence centers from Pennsylvania and Louisiana this summer when I was looking for the environmental and energy effects of these facilities. A retired school headmaster he had You told me the resistance of the organized society.

Data center reaction in St. Charles

When St. Charles residents learned about the plans of the data center for their city, hundreds attended the city hall meeting to allow their opposition. The center, known as the Project Cumulus, will sit on it About 440 acres.

“The effects of anything will come to, in the short term, in the short term, in the short term, the approach to that, will feel it, whether the cost supported to build an additional infrastructure, to bring water, electricity,” said Andrew Gardner, residing in St. Charles, said, ” Saint Louis Magazine at that time.

The opposition of the population and work worked.

in August emailSaint Lewis shared it with public radio, the developers told the Cumulus project, St. Charles, that they were withdrawing their request to obtain a conditional use permit. They said that they would merge the reactions of society and prepare a revised proposal.

A few days later, the city was tied for a year to build the new data center.

according to St. Louis General RadioThe company behind the Project Cumulus seems to be Google, but this has not yet been confirmed. On the other side of the state, Google builds a A billion dollar data center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Google did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

A temporary stop in data centers, not a ban

In St. Louis, Mayor Kara Spencer supports the suspension of new construction permits for data centers while the city is developing new regulations instead of prohibiting the construction of the entire data center.

Spencer said in a statement to CNET, “While I have concerns about the effects of data centers on the environment, the prices of facilities, vitality and urban life,” and its laboratory in the field of the main industries in Saint Lewis, including biotechnology, geological materials, technical technology, and health care, worked closely with the Board of Directors of the Authority in the field of interest.

Currently, Missouri has almost her 50 active data center With the majority in Kansas City and St. Lewis.