Seeing how data centers have churned up local politics and spurred newcomers to run for office, some city administrators came together to seek help. The end result is a new toolkit developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota to help local government officials better understand and weigh the pros and cons of having Google, Meta or some other big tech company build a massive data center in their community.
What does the toolkit include?
The guide, which will be made available to the public Wednesday, includes sections on how data centers can impact energy and water usage, and how these impacts can be regulated at the local level to manage environmental impacts. It also includes guiding questions for city leaders to ask if they get an inquiry from big tech about a data center proposal as well as examples of how to address data centers in local code.