Also worth noting that a very loose definition of data center is used here that doesn’t fit the current colloquial usage of the term. One of the “data centers” listed in the middle of Austin, for example, is barely the size of a house and is actually just the switching infrastructure for a radio tower. Not every dot on this map is an energy-guzzling hyperscaler boogie man.
If people are so curious, they should head on out there and see what the fuss is about. They're going to find a lot of sheds and random closets with a single rack at most.
Knowing how this state operates, I wouldn't doubt a lot of these ended up on the list for small business tax purposes or subsidies. That's a different and much less interesting news story, though.
lol
Did this claim to be a 'hyperscaler' map?
More important politically, is that your water bill will absolutely go up faster with a new data center in town than with a new golf course. Dc's usually draw from a single pipe while golf courses and farmland spread it out. Also a golf course usually uses primarily greywater or recycled water.
The grievances about water usage are absolutely well-founded. Industry sockpuppets often like to push statistics about closed-loop data centers (which are less than 10% of all data centers) to fight back. Closed-loop data centers have their own drawbacks like drastically increased electricity usage and added pollution concerns due to the toxic sludge that needs to be bled out every month.
The golf course line has never been convincing. Find something new.
>> So I'm going make my own slew of claims, yet provide absolutely zero sources for said claims, I'll just present my opinions as if they're known fact
Well, you surely convinced me.
Actually I'm sure they're already doing that.
One of the heaviest water consumers and a massive user of land (especially when considering the land needed to grow feed). And data centers aren’t creating lagoons of shit.
And that’s even before you get to the moral atrocity of dairy.
It's a little dated but I'm sure it hasn't changed much since 2024.
Tulare County (CA), the Panhandle region (TX), and the Magic Valley (ID) consistently rank as the highest-density clusters for the largest individual dairy herds in the country.
If you look at google maps, the "secrets" will become a lot less mysterious.
I'm not saying for or against, I'm just curious why they are choosing Texas?
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108310
Some highlights:
> While data center electricity use has been the subject of much investigation, data center water consumption is a less studied topic that is becoming increasingly important in the context of water scarcity and freshwater conservation, especially at local levels. Many data centers can consume a significant amount of water directly for cooling and space conditioning
> For example, Google's data centers in The Dalles consumed 355 million gallons of water in 2021, representing 29 % of the city's total water consumption
> Additionally, data centers consume water indirectly through the water used for electricity generation. This type of water use can be significant at the local or national level depending on the power generation technologies, power mixes, and electricity usage of the data centers.