ErnestEndeavor said:

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If you are going to claim other people are ignorant, do a little bit of research first.

There's a huge difference between the CPU-heavy cloud infrastructure data centers in Virginia and the newer GPU-focused data centers used for AI.

The GPU data centers are bigger, use a lot more electricity, need a lot more cooling and are significantly louder.

A lot of CPU data centers have been able to blend in to the surrounding area with not much problem.

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thats quite the mental gymnastics

No, that's just reality. The AI focused data centers are just fundamentally different than the cloud infrastructure built out during the 2010s into the early 2020s. The cloud data centers were built in that area in part because of latency and the need to have data centers closer to DC and NY. They also draw less power, less need for water, and are far less noisy.

Here you go, chief.

1. The Historical Head Start
Virginia's dominance began in the early 1990s. Ashburn, Virginia became the home of MAE-East (Metropolitan Area Exchange - East), one of the world's very first primary commercial internet exchange points. When internet pioneers like AOL and UUNet set up their headquarters there, they laid down massive underground networks of fiber-optic cables. Because the baseline infrastructure was already there, every tech giant that followed built nearby to tap directly into that high-speed fiber. [1, 2, 3]

2. Aggressive Tax Incentives
Virginia was one of the first states to target data centers with lucrative, long-term tax breaks. In 2008, the state introduced a massive sales and use tax exemption on data center equipment. Since data centers must constantly cycle out and upgrade millions of dollars worth of expensive servers, cooling systems, and generators, these exemptions save tech companies astronomical amounts of money. [1, 2, 3]

3. Cheap and Reliable Power
Data centers consume massive amounts of electricity to keep servers running and cooled. Historically, Virginia's dominant utility provider, Dominion Energy, has supplied highly reliable power at rates well below the national average. The state's low natural disaster risk (away from major earthquake zones and frequent direct hurricane paths) also guarantees the extreme uptime these facilities require. [1, 2]

4. Proximity to Government Customers
Northern Virginia sits right next to Washington, D.C.. Being physically close to the federal government, defense agencies, and major intelligence contractors created a massive, built-in client base that required highly secure, low-latency data storage. [1, 2, 3]

5. Gravity & The Talent Pool
Data center growth is self-reinforcing. Because so many facilities exist, the region has developed an unmatched ecosystem of highly specialized contractors, engineers, and tech workers who know exactly how to build and maintain them. Tech companies prefer to build where the workforce already knows the trade. [1, 2, 3]

ErnestEndeavor said:

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No, that's just reality. The AI focused data centers are just fundamentally different than the cloud infrastructure built out during the 2010s into the early 2020s. The cloud data centers were built in that area in part because of latency and the need to have data centers closer to DC and NY. They also draw less power, less need for water, and are far less noisy.

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But aren't the newer ones largely closed looped designs on water circulation and usage? I doubt they're truly "zero refill" but they don't consume constant water from the surrounding area after startup.

Power can be in issue, I agree. Old designs would have single MW generators. These new can be as large as heavy-frame combined cycle types..

ErnestEndeavor said:

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The newer ones being installed are mostly closed loop and use less water than a lot of people fear.

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I was always under the assumption that the water consumption wasn't necessarily direct for cooling, but indirect from the power consumption. Gimme a minute and I can have AI verify that.

"In the United States, data centers consume roughly 211 billion gallons (about 800 billion liters) of water indirectly each year through off-site electricity generation"

They are pushing the "current thing" that the ignorant mob stirred up by paranoids, special interests, and Chinese propaganda. They just say the thing that the idiot mib wants to hear and believe

They recently broke ground on a very large project about 3 miles from me. It is right on a major road from my area going into town. Appears to be at least 50 acres being cleared and leveled. A couple of Warehouses are along the same road so probably another warehouse, but rumor is it will be a Data Center.

I am personally Ok with either result since it will apparently not be a housing development. I figure that once built a Data Center would have a lot less traffic and problems than 200 new homes on those 50 acres.

Moved a good portion of my AI investments to China, sadly.

Data centers are good unless it belongs to Elon….democrats

Doesn't appear they're completely against them

The governor-elect of Texas, Gina Hinojosa, has explicitly said that all currently permitted datacenters in Texas will be allowed to finish construction. This essentially covers all of the 2027 and likely well into 2028.

She is going to pass laws that ensure that all *newly*…

— Gavin Baker (@GavinSBaker) November 5, 2026

We need data centers, just not beside a neighborhood, and not via imminent domain.

The stock market is crapping out right now through tech stocks. The drop is linked to all the Dems claiming they are going to ban data centers.

Sounds fairly reasonable with the exception of union workers. Let the best bid win regardless if it's a union

AxelFoley85 said:

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Doesn't appear they're completely against them

The governor-elect of Texas, Gina Hinojosa, has explicitly said that all currently permitted datacenters in Texas will be allowed to finish construction. This essentially covers all of the 2027 and likely well into 2028.

She is going to pass laws that ensure that all *newly*…

— Gavin Baker (@GavinSBaker) November 5, 2026

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She will not pass anything with an R controlled Senate

Drip99 said:

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Why build data centers in the suburbs of a major city when u can build them in the vast wastelands of west Texas or any of the millions of acres of middle of nowhere land across the country? That's why this stuff started…people having a data center built next to an existing neighborhood. Regardless of how beautiful trump says they are, there is nobody that wants one right next to their hood.

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There are multiple data centers all around Houston, and you wouldn't even know because they look just like any other large office warehouse type complex, other than the big bank of backup generators behind the building.

Data centers are good and needed in this day and age. They are good for the economy. People, especially the Karens and the useful idiots on the left, like to bandwagon bi*** about things they have no knowledge of because it makes them feel morally superior.

She is going to pass laws that ensure that all *newly* permitted datacenters going forward for delivery in 2028/2029 will pay taxes, commit to no increase in power prices for consumers, don't impact water availability for people, be constructed with union labor and give "Texans a seat at the table."

Texas is a right-to-work state. Good luck with trying to enforce that nonsense.

I agree. I'm sure there are people in those towns who could use those jobs.

TarponChaser said:

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Anti-data center sentiment is mostly parroting ChiCom and Russian psy-ops/propaganda.

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This. It's 100% sheep being easily manipulated.

I'd need to see where those senators represent, there are a lot of angry citizens re: data centers and they could be for some regulation versus unfettered proliferation.

The real problem is small town rural Texas. They are fixing to, or trying to build a data center around Turkey, Texas. That town simply does not have the infrastructure to support the build of a data center. That is the only real problem I have. People's rent rocketed, and they were basically told this is what's going to happen whether you like it or not. That's not right.

AxelFoley85 said:

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I agree. I'm sure there are people in those towns who could use those jobs.

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The construction employment boost is only for a short period of time. And actual people who staff the data centers is much less than what you apparently think it is. We're not talking thousands of jobs here. We're talking a few hundred at best.

And they're not going to be hiring from the locals to staff the data center in any of the significant positions.

Can't agree with you more. I'm on the side of, we need to lead the data/ai race but not at the expense of the these communities.

It hilariously shows the average liberal is wildly mindless.

They congregate to big cities, while data centers can be built in the middle of red voting nowhere.

If anyone should be against data centers it would make sense that people living near them in the middle nowhere would complain.

Liberals complain about something that truly has ZERO impact on anything with their lives. DC's aren't using land by their homes, water for their homes or crops, electricity for their homes, blocking their views, etc. They're actually impacting people the left despises.

Nope. Liberals are too stupid to realize they have zero reason to be against a DC other than the MSM tells them they should. The MSM is controlled by liberals, who are controlled by communists and marxists.