The American Parents Coalition published a new “Lookout” brief to help parents better understand data centers, what makes a good one and how to know what questions to ask for their community.
Executive director of American Parents Coalition Alleigh Marré told The Center Square that “parents should not have to become infrastructure experts to understand how a proposed data center will affect their family and community.
“Companies have the opportunity to outline and agree to terms that work for both the industry and the safety and security of our loved ones’ futures,” Marré said.
American Parents Coalition gave four basic questions in its Lookout for families to ask when a data center is moving to town to determine whether the structure will be a positive or negative neighbor.
“The questions parents have about data centers are valid and given the opportunity to learn about how these data centers can bring benefits directly to their families is important and something we need to advocate for,” Marré said. “Families continue to be at the forefront of emerging technology and should have a seat at the table.”
The questions are: Does it deliver measurable community benefit?; What are its plans for water?; Is it transparent about power?; and is it being a good neighbor?
The Lookout explained that a modern data center doesn’t presume trust, but “shows up with specific, verifiable commitments such as new tax revenue, and financial investments in the community, funded infrastructure that is ascetically pleasing to communities.”
As an example, the Lookout detailed Loudoun County, Virginia, where data centers help to “fund schools, public safety, and the lowest real property tax rate in Northern Virginia.”
As The Center Square reported, data centers generate 38% of Loudoun County’s general fund revenue and “nearly half of its property tax revenue,” while the structures occupy about 4% of commercial land.
American Parents Coalition’s Lookout affirmed that water usage is a “top concern” when news of a data center arises, explaining that there is a difference between open-loop and closed-loop cooling systems.
Open-loop systems “lose roughly 70 to 80 percent of their water to evaporation.” Fears about water usage were driven by legacy data centers that use the open-loop system, the Lookout said.
Many modern data centers use closed-loop cooling systems that “recycle the same water repeatedly and have almost no wasted water,” the Lookout explained.
The Lookout outlined various ways energy costs can be kept low with the addition of a data center, such as companies adding to energy grids, states passing bills intended to protect families from high prices, and a pledge from the president that suggests companies should “build, buy, or bring their own energy sources.”
The Lookout also provided parents with an expanded list of questions related to data centers that ask things such as will the data center be an eye sore or will it fit in, what kinds of tax revenue can be expected, and will new jobs come to the community as a result.
Alleigh Marré recently wrote an op-ed for The Center Square where she argued families deserve honest answers about data centers.
