Brantley view will affect all
To the editor:
I recently attended Coffee and Conversation hosted by the Satilla Riverkeeper, Shannon Gregory. I learned a lot about what’s happening on the river and in the coastal waterways. The most eye-opening was learning about a proposal to open Brantley County to incoming data centers, warehouses containing thousands of computers commonly known as the cloud.
Data centers are a national concern due to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in rural areas where land is plentiful. The increased demand for data centers is directly correlated to the growth of AI.
Recent studies have shown that one ChatGPT search uses as much as 30 percent more data than a regular Google search.
Data centers are massive structures, often larger than shopping malls. Georgia has seen the largest influx of data centers nationally due to low industry power rates, which are 42 percent lower than the national average. Last year, data centers had more than $180 million in tax breaks, Consumer Advocate Patty Durand said.
However, data centers don’t provide local jobs commensurate with their size past the initial site construction. Once built, these mega facilities need little manpower to operate. The jobs created are for highly specialized computer engineers, and often brought in from outside the local community.
Data centers store everything sent to the cloud, including pictures of your dog and your vacation. They also archive medical records. Should the local area lose power due to a storm or other natural disaster, the data center’s power will be restored first because it could contain medical information. Businesses and industrial areas will be restored next, and at the bottom of the list is the average homeowner.
According to Gregory, the Brantley County Commission will meet Tuesday, January 20 to discuss adopting language to allow a data center to be built; however, before such language is adopted, the community deserves answers to a myriad of pressing questions.
Data centers generate a significant amount of heat, and the computers require cooling. There are two kinds of cooling systems, both of which use thousands of gallons of water. A closed-loop system recirculates the water. An open-loop system releases heated water back into the water source. What kind of cooling system will this facility have?
Data centers also create a huge drain on local power grids. Will the community be subjected to rolling blackouts to satisfy the data center’s need for power?
Editor’s note: Brantley officials have said any center will have its own water supply for cooling and power grid for energy should one be approved.
The property value of homes near the data center also is a concern. There are far too many questions to answer and far too much possible destruction to the peaceful lifestyle the people in Brantley County love to blindly jump into the data center business.
EJ Pond Waycross
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