AI data centers have become a kitchen table issue, especially in the small towns and rural counties where data center developers are locking up hundreds of acres of potential data center sites.
Their impact on energy infrastructure and affordability is one part of a broader picture that encompasses land use, energy, water, and economic development in ways that will help – or hurt – our quality of life for generations to come. At the root of many of these issues are fundamental questions about fairness, what we value, and whether the AI boom will be another wave of resource (land, energy, water, and labor) extraction that will leave rural communities poorer.
AI data centers, like any technology, can be good or bad depending on the intention, goals, and values of the people behind it, and we are all already making decisions that will impact our families and our neighbors for years to come.
It’s therefore a critical time to come together as community, tech, energy, and policy leaders to talk about the hard questions and explore what principled unity might look like so that we’re moving in the right direction. That’s why Groundswell will be convening this year’s Rural Renaissance Roadshow “At the Data Center Crossroads.”
Some of the topics we’ll cover include affordability and infrastructure, local control vs. federalization, stewardship and land use planning, and economic development.
If you see yourself in these conversations, please save the date for this year’s Roadshow and take a moment to let us know if there are specific topics or speakers you want to see there.
With gratitude,
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L. Michelle Moore |
