"But in this time period, a big change did ripple across this region. Less than 50 miles away, Indian Point was sending NYC 2,000 MW of power. Then it stopped. When the plant shut down (Unit 2 in April of 2020; Unit 3 in April of 2021), NYC lost vital baseload power 200 times greater than data center growth in this region.
That plummet in power supply left NYC vulnerable to wholesale price increases. Thus, Bloomberg confused a supply shock for a demand signal and then saddled data centers with the blame.
That’s a shame, because the currently available data says otherwise. Data centers have had a largely salutary impact on prices, while bad policies have driven up people’s bills (as I have been saying!)."
Figures don't lie, but liars can figure. Bloomberg's figures were, in effect and for all practical purposes, lies.
I'm opposed to data center buildouts on principle, apart from all the "debunked" critiques like water use and electric bills. It's extremely frustrating that being pro-buildout has become a reflexively MAGA-type agenda. People who would otherwise use their brains to think about whether making every available surface of the universe a computer is actually good for society now just turn them off and declare that they love AI because the current regime is pushing it.
And now when you oppose AI and buildouts, you get pegged as a leftist, even though I'm literally the opposite.
The uniparty fake-red-blue-dichotomy has destroyed all reasoning through of actually weighty societal issues.
And now the nuclear advocacy party has turned AI into its lord and savior, because before AI no one liked them so much.
It's depressing, because I feel like I'm literally being left behind. If you think the AI buildout is suspect at all, you're insane. Probably a blue-haired brainwashed Biden voter!
Our city council secretly approved a Google campus, and the citizens only got real wind of it after ground was already broken. Now, not a single citizen has ever said a positive thing about Google, left or right, yet the council either ignores the comments or the Republican councilmen patronizingly pretend to care while deferring to the fact that Trump has blessed them and us. And the Democrat councilmen give patronizing interviews with the area utilities to "debunk all the misinformation."
I don't want one of the most powerful companies on the planet taking my city's free money for mere promises to be a good local business while they burn through billions in chips on our cheap land.
And even if it wasn't me, I don't want them operating like that anywhere.
I was told by a utility regulator at a public forum that the AI buildout is necessary and inevitable because people store more photos in the cloud these days. HOW DID WE GET TO SUCH RIDICULOUSNESS???
The people gaslighting us don't even know how any of this technology even works, yet they are in charge and handing over the farm with a clean conscience.
Ironically I support community-based moratoria on data center development in NYS but have serious reservations about the statewide moratorium, which functions more like a ban. I’m in favor of small rural communities writing protective laws to ensure that data centers don’t have oversized impacts. If Hochul had said “we want x months to study the issue and adopt policies that work to the state’s benefit,” I might support it. There’s a lot to research and analyze. NY’s grid is a mess; what’s the best way of incorporating new large loads? We don’t have a lot of power to spare. Does the state want to promote property tax breaks (e.g., PILOTs) or let these businesses live and die on their own merits? My fear, of course, is that Hochul will consolidate siting under state control as she did with wind and solar facility siting. Once again local communities will have home rule set aside so the state can pursue its agenda unimpeded. Just wait and see… we’re going to have a state Office of Data Center Siting.
Great analysis, thanks emmet
Excellent analysis, exposing Bloomberg's careless, narrow, cherry-picked, short-sighted view.
Here's the important summary:
"But in this time period, a big change did ripple across this region. Less than 50 miles away, Indian Point was sending NYC 2,000 MW of power. Then it stopped. When the plant shut down (Unit 2 in April of 2020; Unit 3 in April of 2021), NYC lost vital baseload power 200 times greater than data center growth in this region.
That plummet in power supply left NYC vulnerable to wholesale price increases. Thus, Bloomberg confused a supply shock for a demand signal and then saddled data centers with the blame.
That’s a shame, because the currently available data says otherwise. Data centers have had a largely salutary impact on prices, while bad policies have driven up people’s bills (as I have been saying!)."
Figures don't lie, but liars can figure. Bloomberg's figures were, in effect and for all practical purposes, lies.
I'm opposed to data center buildouts on principle, apart from all the "debunked" critiques like water use and electric bills. It's extremely frustrating that being pro-buildout has become a reflexively MAGA-type agenda. People who would otherwise use their brains to think about whether making every available surface of the universe a computer is actually good for society now just turn them off and declare that they love AI because the current regime is pushing it.
And now when you oppose AI and buildouts, you get pegged as a leftist, even though I'm literally the opposite.
The uniparty fake-red-blue-dichotomy has destroyed all reasoning through of actually weighty societal issues.
And now the nuclear advocacy party has turned AI into its lord and savior, because before AI no one liked them so much.
It's depressing, because I feel like I'm literally being left behind. If you think the AI buildout is suspect at all, you're insane. Probably a blue-haired brainwashed Biden voter!
Our city council secretly approved a Google campus, and the citizens only got real wind of it after ground was already broken. Now, not a single citizen has ever said a positive thing about Google, left or right, yet the council either ignores the comments or the Republican councilmen patronizingly pretend to care while deferring to the fact that Trump has blessed them and us. And the Democrat councilmen give patronizing interviews with the area utilities to "debunk all the misinformation."
I don't want one of the most powerful companies on the planet taking my city's free money for mere promises to be a good local business while they burn through billions in chips on our cheap land.
And even if it wasn't me, I don't want them operating like that anywhere.
I was told by a utility regulator at a public forum that the AI buildout is necessary and inevitable because people store more photos in the cloud these days. HOW DID WE GET TO SUCH RIDICULOUSNESS???
The people gaslighting us don't even know how any of this technology even works, yet they are in charge and handing over the farm with a clean conscience.
"Don't be evil."
Ironically I support community-based moratoria on data center development in NYS but have serious reservations about the statewide moratorium, which functions more like a ban. I’m in favor of small rural communities writing protective laws to ensure that data centers don’t have oversized impacts. If Hochul had said “we want x months to study the issue and adopt policies that work to the state’s benefit,” I might support it. There’s a lot to research and analyze. NY’s grid is a mess; what’s the best way of incorporating new large loads? We don’t have a lot of power to spare. Does the state want to promote property tax breaks (e.g., PILOTs) or let these businesses live and die on their own merits? My fear, of course, is that Hochul will consolidate siting under state control as she did with wind and solar facility siting. Once again local communities will have home rule set aside so the state can pursue its agenda unimpeded. Just wait and see… we’re going to have a state Office of Data Center Siting.
lmao ok just say you didn’t read the piece next time.
don’t waste my time like this again.
Yes, as I argue and cite evidence for in the piece.
Goodbye.
are you suggesting increasing supply but without a demand signal?
that sounds like a difficult environment in which to finance a big industrial project like nuclear!
If NY wants to miss out on data center development, that’s fine.
But that is not a consequence-free choice.