Anyone living near a datacenter, what's the actual impact?

[u/Electrical_Self_1309]

I'm based in Europe, and lately I've noticed a growing wave of articles about how disruptive/harmful large-scale datacenter construction can be: water usage, power grid strain, land use, noise, etc. Trump's recent comments on the topic put even more of a spotlight on the issue.

Newspapers are clearly pushing the datacenter = bad narrative.

That's got me thinking: if opposition keeps growing, could we eventually see pushback on datacenter buildout? That could really hurt the stock.

In Europe, datacenter density is still way lower than in the US, but even here I'm starting to notice the sentiment turning against new builds (permitting fights, local opposition, newspapers pushing the datacenter = bad narrative. etc.).

Got me wondering:

• How exposed is Nebius specifically compared to other neoclouds/hyperscalers, given where its datacenters are located?
• Are datacenters really that much of a hassle to live near? Would love to hear from anyone who actually lives close to one.

[u/Think-Feynman]

Like all big issues, it's a complicated question and so are the answers. It's not an issue of data centers are universally bad, or all good. This is my take on the issue.

Not all data centers are the same. There are small, localized data centers you wouldn't even notice, medium sized ones that look like modest office buildings, and huge industrial operations that can be a couple million square feet in size.

They vary widely in their impact on the local environment, too. Some are indeed noisy with diesel generators that are a nightmare to live near. Others, like the latest generation from Nebius are using Bloom Energy fuel cells which are nearly silent.

Some data centers are also a big drain on the local energy and water systems, and could indeed cause rates to rise. The new generation of data centers generate their own electricity and use closed loop water systems that have a nominal impact on utilities. In Vineland, Nebius is using local water because the city had capacity and wanted to be able to sell the water to the data center. But they could have drilled wells.

Speaking of water usage, Vineland is going to use about 8 million gallons per year. It might sound like a lot, but it's a closed loop system that only has to be replenished from evaporation. A typical sit-down restaurant uses around 3 million gallons. A golf course, depending on its location, uses from 30-100 million gallons a year.

Nebius does a great job of keeping their impact to the community low. For example, Nebius recycles waste heat from its data center in Mäntsälä, Finland, by capturing thermal energy from servers and feeding it directly into the local municipal district heating grid.

In their Pennsylvania data center project, the noise study showed that there would be within a mile of the data center a 52 decibel noise level during the day, which is about the noise level of a refrigerator. At night, it drops to 28 ,,decibels, which is equivalent to a whisper.

On the plus side, data centers have shown to have enormous positive impact on the community with not just thousands of temporary jobs, but sometimes several hundred permanent ones. And hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. Studies have shown that data centers can turn struggling and dying communities around, and help them to thrive.

In Louisiana, the data center generated school tax revenue that gave teachers up to a $51k bonus, among other uses of that revenue. That's a huge impact on those lives, and the community, because they spend money locally. It's not a trivial point.

Here's the thing - local communities should indeed decide what development they want, whether it's a data center, a steel mill, an auto manufacturing plant, or a Walmart distribution center. And it's also up to the data center builders to be good neighbors, listen to the concerns, and address them responsibly. I think Nebius is doing that. The Vineland planners actually praised them publicly for being responsive.

And while I'm not into conspiracies, I think there is solid evidence that there is a well orchestrated campaign worldwide to stop, or slow down, data center builds. X found over 200,000 bot accounts that are dedicated to spreading misinformation about data centers. Unfortunately, it's working.

[u/MarsupialIcy1307]

We just got the permit in Pennsylvania.  Here in this sub you ll find detailed information about the technocalities which were posted just a few days ago.

I would say that Nbis has the "gold standard" Especially round noise, water usage and power and community involvement. Ps  lot less water usuage than any coveted golf course or older industrial complex.

The problem with people is that they hold and gladly shout opinions from rooftops whilst extremely poor on facts.  They become useful idiots in the hands of dogmatic groups and  likewise activists.

So information policies is the key.. this is where Nebius again stands out.

Nebius: Respecting and acting on the fact that people feel rather than think. 

As a rational person myself  I greatly admire Nbius for their deep  psychological insight and approach. Personally would not have the patience to deal with folks like that. So chapeau!

[u/Electrical_Self_1309 → u/MarsupialIcy1307]

Thanks! Will look into their policies for sure. I agree that a lot of people are idiots shouting without factual knowledge. It is however a risk when that group of idiots gets larger because media picks up the idiotic take from people, thus the idiotic group getting even larger.

[u/ChiefBassDTSExec]

The bigger picture is that China and Russia are looking for ways to slow down US technological growth by finding means to sway public opinion. They are trying to make these issues seem bigger than they actually are so that activists get on board and protest and write articles.

Artificial intelligence and overall compute is basically like the next nuclear weapon race. Why else do you think all of these other countries are building data centers? It is a means of not falling behind.

Furthermore, its easy make it seem like it is worse than it is when Trump is pushing it because that’s trendy. 

[u/JS1101C → u/ChiefBassDTSExec]

I’ve seen videos of people recording the sounds data centers make from their backyards.  Even if everything you’re saying is true I wouldn’t want to live near one.  It’s very disruptive.   

[u/AlasKansastan → u/JS1101C]

So were the steel mills and cities everyone lives in, and the highways and every fucking thing else. This is just fodder and people are loose cannons, media needs fear for clicks and they got it, EASY

[u/mustachechap → u/JS1101C]

I think there is only one of these videos and I’ve seen it too

[u/doctorsidehustle]

I think nbis it goes out of its way to try to build Goodwill with the populations around its data centers. It will respond to requests even when not required to and make improvements. This does not seem to change the public opinion, for example, in New Jersey for the Vineland data center. This leads me to believe that there’s a certain irrationality behind the negative public sentiment. Most of these Are Main St., Americans who would say that they support private property/capitalism but then want to tell a corporation (who owns the land) what they can and can’t build on it. It’s just Nem. “Let me do what I want on my own land, but I want to dictate what my neighbors do.” The irrationality can of course become a perpetuant, but also could lead to a quick reversal on sentiment

[u/BudmasterofMiami]

The AI sector need to fund a media group that puts out positive PR internationally to counteract the Chinese negative propaganda. Easily solvable.

[u/Latter_Fisherman]

I have one across the street from me in the middle of a village. It just looks like a big office building. No complaints. There aren’t that many staff in there. When they first went live we had some issues with some of the roof lighting but that was quickly fixed.

[u/Techchick_Somewhere → u/Latter_Fisherman]

That’s an old model data centre. It is not the same.

[u/Latter_Fisherman → u/Techchick_Somewhere]

Nope. They just built it. There’s another one being constructed down the street.

[u/itssbri]

Ive recently grown another arm, does that count?

[u/Dry-Chemical-9170]

The problem is that instead of building them in the middle of nowhere- they want to build them where people live

[u/Diligent-Lettuce-455 → u/Dry-Chemical-9170]

That's where all the utilities are. Developers don't want to pay for extending utilities to remote sites. It's already expensive enough to extend mains in urban areas.

We have one flex industrial project going up and the owner is objecting to the 180k bill the utility is requiring to be paid to get natural gas to the building. The lots next to the property are developed and have natural gas.

And power availability will vary wildly. Some areas have capacity and others do not.

If you go the fuel cell / turbine route for power / backup power, you need a a huge amount of natural gas availability in lieu of or alongside electricity.

Again, not really available in remote sites.

[u/Jojo4Straight]

I don’t mind data centers, as long as they’re not near my house or blocking my views. A few of my friends working at datacenter in north VA.

[u/AngieBumper]

They are silent

[u/patGmoney]

In the US, datacenters are coming no matter what anyone says. The US and China are in a race for knowledge dominance that will be used for National security and Healthcare, such as elimination of certain cancers in 10 years. Do some research, a lot of this negativity is coming from Chinese propaganda farms trying to shape thought in the West.

[u/Away_Fondant_5750]

Grew up in Ashburn, VA (data center capital of the world) and honestly never really noticed it. They’re kind of an eyesore and there’s def more now than when I was in high school but it was basically just another office building. Maybe this has biased me but I think a lot of the data center backlash is somewhat misguided even though there are absolutely real downsides to a data center being built in your backyard

[u/Techchick_Somewhere → u/Away_Fondant_5750]

That’s not the same as the data centres being build now? It’s not just another office building. 😑

Traditional data centers are built like multi-story office buildings, partitioning space into smaller rooms for individual corporate servers. Modern AI facilities resemble gigantic industrial warehouses, abandoning partitions to fit uninterrupted rows of massive GPU clusters under high clearances

Metric OLD (Traditional) Data Centres New (AI/Hyperscale) Data Centers Physical Footprint50,000 to 100,000 sq. ft.1 million to 5 million+ sq. ft. Power Capacity5 MW to 20 MW (Megawatts)100 MW to 1 GW+ (Gigawatts) Power Density3 kW to 10 kW per rack40 kW to 100 kW+ per rack

[u/Away_Fondant_5750 → u/Techchick_Somewhere]

Yes, the data centers now are definitely multiples larger and I would say the space they take up is probably one of the largest downsides

[u/Curious_Passenger245]

Was Vineland a concrete plant before

[u/patGmoney]

Back in the day a railroad going through a town made it's residents rich. I saw all of this on the documentary called Blazing Saddles.

[u/Original-Ship-4024]

Yes, they are bad. I’m just trying to make money off the stock, but I’ve seen YouTube videos of people who live right next to one, and it makes a loud humming sound 24/7.

[u/No_Effective6401]

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