A data center project came to the table in a Texas county a year ago, promising a big win, but providing few specifics, according to a local county commissioner.
uncertain
project → come → commissioner
While most existing data centers are in urban areas, according to the Pew Research Center, 67% of planned data centers are for rural areas, like Hood County, Texas, where attorney Dave Eagle is one of five elected officials on the commissioners' court, which votes on data center proposals.
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which → accord → proposals
Eagle's impression is that the companies think they're dealing with "country bumpkins" when they make their pitches.
asserted
they → think → pitches
"They just basically approached us in a way that they're going to bring a lot of jobs in here.
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they → approach → jobs
They're going to be good neighbors.
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They → go → ?
They're going to really upgrade the community.
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They → go → community
But they wouldn't tell us exactly what they wanted to do," Eagle said.
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Eagle → tell → what
"They basically came in here to razzle dazzle me."
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They → come → me
The company behind the proposal, which turned out to be Amazon Web Services, asked the county for up to 90% in property tax rebates for 30 years, according to a pitch obtained by 60 Minutes.
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which → turn → Minutes
Eagle voted against the project in Hood, but it's moving forward in the next county over, where AWS got the tax rebate it wanted.
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it → vote → rebate
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson told 60 Minutes, "Amazon evaluates many potential options to develop sites, and Hood County was one of those options.
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County → tell → options
We ultimately decided to not build in Hood County."
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We → decide → County
It continued, "Where we do invest, we work with local leaders to create jobs and generate revenue for public services.
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we → continue → services
"
What's behind the data center boom
Eagle isn't alone in questioning the boom in data centers across the country.
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Eagle → question → country
There are already more than 3,000 data centers in the U.S., according to Pew Research Center, with another 1,500 proposed.
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1,500 → be → Center
Data centers have been around for decades, but as AI booms, the need has grown.
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need → boom → decades
AI data centers are packed with powerful computer chips
.are larger than old ones, according to Michael Webber, a professor at the University of Texas who holds chairs in the departments of engineering and public policy and has written books on the relationship between water and energy.
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who → pack → water
Tech companies call Webber for advice when they want to build in Texas.
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they → call → Texas
"In the old days, and by old days I mean, like, two years ago, a large data center might have been five megawatts," Webber said.
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Webber → mean → days
Hyperscalers including Meta, Amazon, Google and Microsoft are expected to spend $1.5 trillion building data centers through next year, according to Wall Street estimates compiled by FactSet.
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Hyperscalers → include → FactSet
Webber said some believe the U.S. will reach a point of data center satiation, with construction leveling off, while others question whether that day will ever come.
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day → say → satiation
"There are other smart people who say the demand for intelligence will never be sated," he said.
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he → be → intelligence
"So we will always want more data centers.
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we → want → centers
We will always want more intelligence."
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We → want → intelligence
The hope is that the data centers will provide the computing power needed to train models to reach
that can one day match or surpass human capabilities.
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that → provide → capabilities
While AI has already enabled autonomous cars and robotic factories, supporters hope artificial general intelligence could also lead to groundbreaking medical discoveries.
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intelligence → enable → discoveries
"There's a race to power, a speed to power right now, where all the AI companies are in a race to train up their models to win the AI arms race, they call it," Webber said, noting that there are national security and economic implications.
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Webber → power → it
"We in America want to have it first before a bad actor, say, China or someone like that.
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We → want → that
Rising fears over data centers
Despite the positives, many on both sides of the political aisle are pushing back against
of data centers.
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many → rise → centers
Texas mother of five and Marine veteran Jazmin Villegas felt called to duty when she heard about a planned data center campus next to her family home, where she keeps goats, horses, chickens, turkeys and honeybees.
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she → call → goats
"Just because I'm not in uniform doesn't mean that my service to this country has ended," she said.
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she → mean → country
"I stand strongly behind my oath that I took when I enlisted to, you know, protect and defend this Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
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you → stand → enemies
Villegas admits she's not sure yet that data centers are an "enemy," but said she wants to know more about how they'll impact her community in the future, particularly in terms of health risks driven by water, air and noise pollution.
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they → admit → pollution
While a CBS News analysis found that golf courses nationwide use more than twice as much water as data centers, residents in Chandler, Arizona — already worried about water supply — also raised concerns about the water used to cool data centers when the city council considered a proposal last year.
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council → find → proposal
And in
home to the world's highest concentration of data centers, electricity bills have surged in the last year, at least in part because of growing power demand.
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bills → surge → demand
"The pressure is real, the people are concerned," Webber said.
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Webber → say → ?
"And I think they have a right to be concerned because they don't know what's going to happen."
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what → think → right
Last year while welcoming
, he said the state would be the "centerpiece for AI data centers for Google in the entire world.
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state → welcome → world
"The Democrat running against him in November, Gina Hinojosa, has made data centers a key issue in her campaign and is calling for a temporary moratorium.
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centers → run → moratorium
Last month, he paused approval of new data centers that would draw from the state's power grid until they complete an audit.
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they → pause → audit
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
