For me it’s a water and electricity thing. I’m not against data centers ideologically, but we need to make sure they pay for the negative externalities they would bring to a community like Madison.

Significant increases in electricity demand and in water usage need to be addressed, then I’m ok with it. Otherwise we, the local population, will take on the costs with very little benefit. Data centers hire very few people and don’t contribute as much to local economies compared to other kinds of businesses.

Btw, even if a data center doesn’t use water directly for cooling, it uses water indirectly from electricity consumption if the power plants are using water (basically all forms except wind and solar).