||| FROM NPR |||
“Washington’s hydropower has created a data center boom. Some are concerned about its future.”
Originally reported by NPR
The first thing visitors approaching Quincy, Washington see is dry rolling hills, cleaved by the Columbia River. The second, a sign laying claim to the title of the nation’s “leading potato producing county.” But today, Quincy is known for a more lucrative commodity: vast stretches of data centers powering the modern internet and artificial intelligence boom.
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Thanks for republishing this NPR article, Lin. It covers much the same ground as a series of Seattle Times articles did last fall, culminating in my October 29 op ed, which also appeared in the Orcasonian and Orcas Currents:
https://orcascurrents.com/the-ai-power-struggle/
NPR brings readers up to date on events that have happened since then, including a big Microsoft data center under construction near Quincy. What it neglects to mention is the impact these huge AI data centers will inevitably have on local electricity bills, which are already increasing at about 6% per year — more than twice the rate of inflation hereabouts. An AI-aided Google search, for example, uses TEN TIMES the power of an unaided search. And I can only imagine what asking for a ChatGPT or Gemini search will require. As BPA hydropower is already tapped out, this electricity will have to come from elsewhere, else we’ll have to pay for it.
When Governor Ferguson visited last month, during his Q&A session, I raised the question about what the state government will be doing with regard to the data-center boom, and he replied that he has a task force studying the problem, due to report late this year. Two things we should all insist on:
– that the state sales-tax breaks previously granted these data centers be abandoned forthwith
– that their tremendous power demands must be met from other (preferably renewable) sources they pay for separately, so as not to impact ordinary ratepayers.
I will be writing about this looming problem in the near future, hopefully in the Seattle Times. Watch for it.
I would second Michael’s comments about the multiple impacts of AI data centers (and bitcoin mines) on our limited and dwindling power supplies and rising electricity costs. Data centers are not only huge consumers of electrical power but also of water coolant water–a bit problem for the Columbia River and tapped-out Bonneville Power Administration. “According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a single 100-megawatt data center can use up to 2,000,000 litres (530,000 US gal) of water per day—equivalent to the daily consumption of 6,500 households.” [“AI Data Centers Boom is Draining Water From Drought-Prone Areas – Sustainability Tipping Point?” TechRepublic; “AI’s Thirst: How Data Centers Are Draining Water in Vulnerable Regions”. Bloomberg. 2025].
https://ethicalgeo.org/the-cloud-is-drying-our-rivers-water-usage-of-ai-data-centers/
https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption
And the bottom line for our electrical bills, as OPLACO has been telling us: 6% annual price increases for the next five years along with the possibility of rolling blackouts. What to do about it? As Michael suggests, call or write both to Governor Ferguson and our state representatives and insist that Washington stop giving tax breaks to data centers which are robbing us of our power at our expense.
Thanks for your support, Brian. I know people take your words seriously. To add to the concern, Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman recently published a Substack column “AI is Power Hungry” that makes similar points:
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/ai-is-power-hungry
In it, he puts the national growth in electricity rates at 9 percent annually — over THREE TIMES the current inflation rate. Think about it.
Brian – Where does the cooling water go after the data center uses it? I presume back in the already too warm river? Probably not a plus for the already stressed riverine ecosystem, but not an actual loss of water. A half million gallons of water per day really isn’t as much as it sounds when you are talking about the Columbia River – with an average flow rate of 273,000 cubic feet of water per second. Two million gallons PER SECOND rolling out of the mighty Columbia makes a half million gallons per day seem like the proverbial drop in a bucket. On that river at least, I don’t think water usage is the real problem.
Perhaps the inducement of increasing energy prices will encourage conservation and efficiency at all scales? We can hope! It does seem like a bit of a bait and switch for OPALCO to convince everyone to install a heat pump and buy an electric car only to then jack the rates 30% due to greater demand. Heat pumps and electric cars really are more efficient to operate but the energy/carbon footprint to build, maintain and eventually replace them is at least as high, if not higher, than a propane heater and a modest internal combustion vehicle.
Perhaps there needs to be a stipulation that new data centers produce their own electricity? Small Modular Reactors appear to be promising in this regard. TerraPower is constructing a next-gen reactor in Wyoming next to an old coal burning power plant with plans to be on-line by 2030. If this project works, perhaps it becomes a template for the region? The transmission lines are already there… perhaps one day we will be able to take out dams and replace them with small nukes?
Ken–All interesting points. I particularly agree about the “bait and switch” for total electrification, not only because of the rate increases and rare resource use, but, more importantly, because of forecast blackouts. What are all-electric households going to do for emergency backup? I’m still skeptical of “pocket nuclear reactors,” no matter how small, for any number of reasons, but, first and foremost, until we’ve solved the waste problem.
This is a good, informative discussion. To address Brian’s question about cooling, there are two main types of cooling systems — open, and closed-loop systems, the latter of which I believe Microsoft is using in Quincy, according to the NPR article. Open systems release the heat either back to the river from which the cooling water came or let the hot water evaporate, which is most effective but most wasteful. And I agree with Brian that small modular nuclear reactors are so far unproven, as none exist. Plus they will produce nuclear wastes that the US does not yet have a national repository for. Other nuclear nations, like Finland, France and Sweden, do. I could link to a recent Scientific American article I published in the subject, but it is behind a paywall.
Significant water is lost in use in data centers. As Michael said, it can be reused to some degree, but after data centers use water for cooling, most of it is lost through evaporation. The remaining water, often concentrated with dissolved solids, dust, and chemicals, becomes wastewater that can be discharged to municipal systems or treated on-site for reuse, though this is often limited due to the contaminants. So no, it can’t just be discharged into the environment. So it is indeed “lost”.