I'm especially proud of Festus. Relatives and friends lived there, and I've visited the town a couple times. It was a declining town back then, and declining towns are vulnerable to fraudsters like Altman.
Iām not seeing the opposition to Amazon warehouses that Iām seeing with data centers. Friends and family members who lean liberal to progressive continue to support Amazon, despite my efforts to explain to them why they should boycott the company. Even worse are the economic developers providing massive tax breaks to Amazon. š
The new distaste for ādata centersā in the neighborhoods of middle America is intriguing ; it belies the broader cultures accelerating swoon over all things āsmartā (Smartphones, Smart Houses, Cars, Toasters) and ChatGPT and Claude etc etc. itās like, thereās no grasp of the connection between our unquestioning worship of each New Shiny Thing and the ugly prerequisites for same. Go figure.
100+ data centers are coming to central Ohio. The grid strain from that demand is already part of whatās driving AEPās rate increases on residential customers. PUCO approved a new minimum monthly charge specifically for data center customers, but the broader infrastructure costs are still being distributed across all ratepayers.
Translation: your electric bill goes up so a server farm can run.
The article mentions Ohio residents pushing for a statewide moratorium on the ballot in November. That fight is worth watching. Because what happened in Festus and Port Washington is exactly what happens when people understand whatās actually being built in their community and whoās actually paying for it.
Data centers donāt create meaningful local employment. They consume local resources. And in Ohio, theyāre being handed tax abatements by county commissioners most residents have never heard of while residential bills climb toward $10 more a month by 2028.
Everyone hates data centers because everyone is paying for them. They just donāt know it yet.
I'm especially proud of Festus. Relatives and friends lived there, and I've visited the town a couple times. It was a declining town back then, and declining towns are vulnerable to fraudsters like Altman.
Iām not seeing the opposition to Amazon warehouses that Iām seeing with data centers. Friends and family members who lean liberal to progressive continue to support Amazon, despite my efforts to explain to them why they should boycott the company. Even worse are the economic developers providing massive tax breaks to Amazon. š
Very true, but there is opposition to amazon out there, esp among small biz. I wrote here about a local fight in Vermont a few months back.
The new distaste for ādata centersā in the neighborhoods of middle America is intriguing ; it belies the broader cultures accelerating swoon over all things āsmartā (Smartphones, Smart Houses, Cars, Toasters) and ChatGPT and Claude etc etc. itās like, thereās no grasp of the connection between our unquestioning worship of each New Shiny Thing and the ugly prerequisites for same. Go figure.
Ohio is ground zero for this.
100+ data centers are coming to central Ohio. The grid strain from that demand is already part of whatās driving AEPās rate increases on residential customers. PUCO approved a new minimum monthly charge specifically for data center customers, but the broader infrastructure costs are still being distributed across all ratepayers.
Translation: your electric bill goes up so a server farm can run.
The article mentions Ohio residents pushing for a statewide moratorium on the ballot in November. That fight is worth watching. Because what happened in Festus and Port Washington is exactly what happens when people understand whatās actually being built in their community and whoās actually paying for it.
Data centers donāt create meaningful local employment. They consume local resources. And in Ohio, theyāre being handed tax abatements by county commissioners most residents have never heard of while residential bills climb toward $10 more a month by 2028.
Everyone hates data centers because everyone is paying for them. They just donāt know it yet.
where are the three additional communities with anti data center ballot measures?