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A comment on Data centers need power – lower income, rural residents pay the price. Parent comment

Re:Data centers need power – lower income, rural residents p... by austin-cheney on Thursday November 12, 2026 @06:38PM (#50476011)
That is numerically irrational. If a data center consumes enough water and power for a community of 20,000 what do those local residents get in return?

This is numerically simple. How much money do these data centers return to the local community and how much do they cost the local community. It’s a catastrophic net-negative for all parties except the owner and the construction crew.

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Re:Data centers need power – lower income, rural residents p... by MaxHoppersGhost on Thursday November 12, 2026 @11:55PM (#50478517)
>If a data center consumes enough water and power for a community of 20,000 what do those local residents get in return?

Source? We live in America and, except for some areas like the southwest, there are reservoirs everywhere with loads of water.

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Re:Data centers need power – lower income, rural residents p... by austin-cheney on Friday November 13, 2026 @03:31AM (#50480175)
Where in the US is there unlimited fresh water for municipal consumption? Does data center construction include the expenses of building out additional reservoirs?
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