Apparently some people don't like the data centers?

The folks in nearby Nodaway County have been in an uproar over a proposal to build a data center that would occupy 500 acres. They have been holding public meetings, complaining on social media, and threatening legal action. In July, county commissioners placed a moratorium on data-center construction, halting the project for six months. The protests continue.

In two recent polls, 60% to 70% of Americans said they oppose data centers. Maine’s Legislature passed a statewide moratorium, which Gov. Janet Mills vetoed, as did the Legislature of New York state, where Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order imposing a moratorium on permits for hyperscale data centers.

Press coverage swells with glowing profiles of landowners who turned down offers from developers. A Kentucky farmer said no to a $10 million offer for his land. A family of Kentucky farmers refused a $26 million offer. An 86-year-old farmer turned down $15 million. One can’t help admiring people who value their way of life more than money, but let me give you the view from my farm in Atchison County: Developers, make me an offer.

YIMBY that data center farm, biatch.

• Data centers deplete water: No, proposed centers are closed-loop, using wastewater
• loss of area's natural beauty
• Negative pecuniary externality (= centers use so much electricity that my rates go up!): zero sum, we don't have fixed electricity amounts -- supply is responsive, large build-outs usually bring new generation.

Maybe the growth of data centers will mean more electricity produced, causing prices to level out or drop. The Nodaway developers promise to build their own generating capacity, so the data center’s effect on the grid would be minor. Missouri’s Legislature passed a law last year to protect residential consumers from price spikes caused by large users, though critics complain it has loopholes.

Miiiiiiic drooooooooooooop!

Since 2010, Nodaway has lost around 14% of its population. Businesses have closed; stores are empty. The county’s main economic engine is a university where enrollment has declined over the past two years and demographic trends portend further declines. Losing 500 acres of soybeans seems a small price for economic growth and 130 families moving in. A growing, thriving community is also a thing of beauty.

man, is that a beautiful finish. DECLINE IS A CHOICE; saving some increasingly irrelevant piece of land to stop development? No. Thanks. #1547735 #1547911

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