Proposed AI Data Centers Could Drain Minnesota’s 10,000 Lakes

A lot of people like me are worried about the future of humanity with the explosive growth of AI technology. Some estimate that it will eliminate about half of white collar jobs in the United States. You can’t trust any photo or video you see anywhere anymore, because they could be AI. I’m super skeptical of every post on social media, and I’ve been duped before. (Those bear videos jumping on a backyard trampoline are fake, fyi.)

One thing that we should question is the building of AI data centers. These data centers use an enormous amount of electricity. They also use a lot of water. Let’s put this into perspective.

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AI uses hundreds of millions of gallons of water.

According to MCEA, a large data center proposed in Farmington, Minnesota, would consume 900 million gallons of water from the community’s aquifers. That’s double the current water consumption of the entire city.

A single AI data center uses more electricity than Minneapolis.

One data center would use the same amount of electricity as the entire city of Minneapolis. There are 10 data centers proposed in the state, and if all of those were up and running, they would consume as much as the entire state does currently. Where’s the electricity going to come from?

Tech companies are building these data centers in our backyards because we have the land, a stable power grid, and access to water to cool the facilities…

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