SIGforum
Data Centers are the Devil
June 11, 2026, 09:16 AM
StlheadData Centers are the Devil
Don’t believe what you read on the internet especially if you want to believe it.
June 19, 2026, 09:41 AM
TMats
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despite them
June 19, 2026, 09:50 AM
nhtagmemberHave the data center build its own power plant.
100% and self contained. Must meet all local noise ordinances too.
June 19, 2026, 10:26 AM
whanson_wiI agree that the data centers should have to provide their own power, not be subsidized by the general population.
A current plan is to have high-voltage power lines start in the middle of Minnesota, cross into Wisconsin, cross one county and part of another, and terminate in... Bell Center. The Village of Bell Center has a population of about 100, if you include the dogs and cats. I'm pretty sure the retirees living there don't need all that power for their waffle irons.
Those power lines are going to cost serious money, and someone's going to be on the hook for it. They'll degrade nearby home values, harm the bucolic beauty of the area, aggravate the snot out of everyone in their path, and generally be a pain in the ass. Better to have the data center build its own plant as locally as possible.
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June 19, 2026, 11:21 AM
architectData centers building their own power plants raises a whole lot of other issues. I would think that the only practical source of sufficient power would be nuclear (in the form of SMRs) which would mean large numbers of plants spread around the country. There are many people who would be opposed to having a nuclear neighbor, and I doubt that it would ever be approved of by voters.
Another concern is where to source sufficient fuel for all these plants.
I suspect that there will be self-powered, behind the meter data centers operating at some point in the future, built and overseen by our AI robot masters. Perhaps in orbit or on the moon.
June 19, 2026, 11:34 AM
AglifterGiven the scale of usage, on site power makes sense/used to be pretty normal for a lot of industries/locating them as close as possible to a power plant with excess power.
(I think Al smelting was another major user of power, but TMK they always operated on waste power as much as possible)
June 19, 2026, 02:00 PM
229DAKWhy aren't the roofs of all those data centers completely covered with solar panels?
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“A man’s treatment of a dog is no indication of the man’s nature, but his treatment of a cat is. It is the crucial test. None but the humane treat a cat well.”
-- Mark Twain, 1902
June 19, 2026, 02:08 PM
PrefontaineThis is a cluster fuck here. This is a long article but covers a lot of the impacts here in Texas. Our grid isn’t set up for any of this, and neither is our water supply. This will fuck over citizens. kWh and H20 costs will go up because of these AI centers. Citizens shouldn’t be taxed for others profits.
https://www.texastribune.org/2...tricity-power-water/
What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
June 19, 2026, 02:16 PM
83v45magnaquote:
Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Citizens shouldn’t be taxed for others profits.
I think this hits the nail on the head right here.
June 19, 2026, 02:40 PM
PatriotHey man, you want to use AI to create a video that overwrites your boss slipping in a pile cow shit? Or the endless fat JD Vance videos? Or creating deep fakes.
You wanna sit there all day and ask AI stupid questions and to write your fucking term papers and to figure out all the shit you’re not able to do on your own?
Endless fucking selfies of you eating at the latest Chinese restaurant in town? Taking pictures of every fucking meal you eat? Posting your every goddamn thought on a TikTok or a YouTube?
Time to pay up! There’s a price to pay for where all that shit is kept and how it’s generated.
You created the fucking monster now it’s time to feed it!
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July 04, 2026, 07:43 AM
TMatsquote:
Henrico County, Virginia, spent years courting data centers with generous tax breaks, and 37 of them now operate within its borders, with another 17 under review. This summer, the county asked its own teachers, custodians and office staff to help pay for the rising electricity costs that growth has helped drive.
In a June 26 email obtained by 404 Media, County Manager John Vithoulkas asked county and school employees to turn off lights when they leave a room, unplug chargers and shut down their computers at the end of the day. The goal is to help offset a $5 million increase in the county’s power bill.
Virginia County that Courted Data Centers Now Wants School Staff to Conserve PowerJust make them pay their own way. That’s all I ask.
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despite them
July 04, 2026, 08:29 AM
a1abdjquote:
Virginia County that Courted Data Centers Now Wants School Staff to Conserve Power
Instead of turning off the lights, how about turning off all of the computers and getting back to books and paper?
July 04, 2026, 08:32 AM
GraniteguyNothing like brown-outs when it's 100 degrees out.
July 04, 2026, 09:03 AM
Skins2881That would be why many data centers are running on generators during the heat wave. First they start with data centers that have existing agreements to be buffer for the grid. Next is Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act which allows them to turn off data centers without an agreement with PJM.
Energy Dept. directs data centers to use backup generators during heat wave, freeing up power for AC
Jesse
Sic Semper Tyrannis July 04, 2026, 10:10 AM
PGTDon't discount Chinese disinformation campaigns to undermine US confidence in AI....the underlying requirement being datacenters. We're in a great power competition with China over AI and they're being incredibly successful at this information operations / IO campaign
July 04, 2026, 10:33 AM
shovelheadIn Michigan we have many brownfields, a legacy to manufacturing that has left the state. Do we redevelop these into data centers? Nope, we use farmland as the developers cry that it costs too much to use those brownfields.
One that was proposed between Detroit and Lansing was going to take 1000 acres of farmland, an area with no municipal water or sewerage at present. An area that depends on groundwater for small municipalities and individual wells. DTE (power company) would have to bring in transmission lines as that area has none. Guess who pays in the long run? Water and sewerage? Same same. Not to mention natural gas as many in that area rely on LP gas.
Oh, major cross county highway, once a state highway but now turned over to county control, old U.S.16. Carries 10-16k vehicles per day. Especially important when a crash (fairly often) shuts down I-96, the highway that replaced 16.
It bisects about one third of the involved property. Buried in the plans were the requirement that it be rerouted. You can bet your seating area that the county taxpayers will be paying for acquisition of new right of way and the associated construction costs if this plot not plan ever gets approved.
And of course our Governor supports this. As does our Secretary of State who’s running for Governor. And who’s husband is involved heavily with bringing data centers to Michigan. No conflict of interest here, just move along.
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————————--Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman)
July 04, 2026, 10:40 AM
shovelheadquote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Have the data center build its own power plant.
100% and self contained. Must meet all local noise ordinances too.
Socorro New Mexico is fighting a data center partnership that involves New Mexico Tech. One of the “ideas” touted was a small nuclear reactor to power it. Too bad the Rio Grande Valley there is a high seismic activity area……
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————————--Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman)
July 09, 2026, 03:28 PM
vthokyquote:
Originally posted by 229DAK:
Why aren't the roofs of all those data centers completely covered with solar panels?
https://x.com/NickMinock/statu...183182643614153?s=20
Politicians seem to have forgotten that they work for us, not the other way around.
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God bless America. July 10, 2026, 12:07 AM
357fuzzquote:
Originally posted by Patriot:
Hey man, you want to use AI to create a video that overwrites your boss slipping in a pile cow shit? Or the endless fat JD Vance videos? Or creating deep fakes.
You wanna sit there all day and ask AI stupid questions and to write your fucking term papers and to figure out all the shit you’re not able to do on your own?
Endless fucking selfies of you eating at the latest Chinese restaurant in town? Taking pictures of every fucking meal you eat? Posting your every goddamn thought on a TikTok or a YouTube?
Time to pay up! There’s a price to pay for where all that shit is kept and how it’s generated.
You created the fucking monster now it’s time to feed it!
You make a valid point.
July 10, 2026, 12:09 AM
357fuzzquote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Have the data center build its own power plant.
100% and self contained. Must meet all local noise ordinances too.
Look at Nano Nuclear, Inc. pretty sure that’s what they are developing. New manufacturing using their own little nuclear reactors.