ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — As data centers pop up around the country, communities across East Tennessee are wrestling with how to regulate them. On Tuesday, the Anderson County Planning Commission voted to send a proposal to the County Commission which would recommend new zoning rules for large data centers.
“We think that the data centers are coming. Regardless of our position, whatever we do. So we need to be prepared for the advent of these things coming along,” said Anderson County Planning Commission Chairmen Ned Ferguson.
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According to the Brookings Institution, the average data center uses 300,000 gallons of water per day, and the large ones can use five million gallons a day, enough water for a town of up to 50,000 people.
Planning Commission member Tony Gregg voiced his concerns over data centers coming to Anderson County, pointing to a data center near Atlanta owned by private equity giant Blackstone, which Politico initially reported was consuming millions of gallons of water using one water connection which the city had no knowledge of, and another they didn’t pay for…