Fuck that guy and fuck data centers, but this meme is misinformed.
The biggest problem with our current grid is power distribution, as in getting power from the production source to its destination (your house). We absolutely have production issues, but even if we resolve those, we still need to contend with the distribution bottleneck.
Most, if not all of these datacenter plans and include built in power production. Whether it is Google’s geothermal, meta’s nuclear, or whatver, the power production for the datacenters are meant to be relatively close to the actual.
EDIT: Let me be clear. Almost all of these dedicated power production facilities for datacenters WILL BE subsidized (or fully paid for) by local electric consumers and tax payers in the form of taxes, bonds, and electric bill fees. They are willing to do that for datacenters but not to upgrade our infrastructure (the grid) so that we can transition to EV’s.
(Sorry for this vague rant but I had to get it off my chest)
We used to build rails, roads, water/sewage systems, telephone networks and they weren’t all directly profitable. Now it seems any investment in infrastructure is deemed too expensive (unless it’s AI or whatever)
Like why is there not yet wired internet everywhere in the west. It is absolutely ridiculous that some people have to rely on starlink for a decent connection. I understand that it’s not profitable to lay miles of cable just so Bill from Buttfuck Ohio can pay $20 a month to have access to it. That didn’t use to stop us for electricity and water though. Just because some rent seeking motherfucker isn’t raking it in doesn’t mean it’s not valuable to society as a whole.
Just print some money, upgrade the damn power grid and make us less dependent on fossil fuels. It might even help the climate if anyone still gives a fuck about that.
I’m not disagreeing with the sentiment, just clarifying that the grid, as it stands today, is inadequate for a full electric future. That wasn’t a lie. Clearly it is doable, they just choose not to because it isn’t as profitable.
Fuck that guy and fuck data centers, but this meme is misinformed.
The biggest problem with our current grid is power distribution, as in getting power from the production source to its destination (your house). We absolutely have production issues, but even if we resolve those, we still need to contend with the distribution bottleneck.
Most, if not all of these datacenter plans and include built in power production. Whether it is Google’s geothermal, meta’s nuclear, or whatver, the power production for the datacenters are meant to be relatively close to the actual.
EDIT: Let me be clear. Almost all of these dedicated power production facilities for datacenters WILL BE subsidized (or fully paid for) by local electric consumers and tax payers in the form of taxes, bonds, and electric bill fees. They are willing to do that for datacenters but not to upgrade our infrastructure (the grid) so that we can transition to EV’s.
(Sorry for this vague rant but I had to get it off my chest)
We used to build rails, roads, water/sewage systems, telephone networks and they weren’t all directly profitable. Now it seems any investment in infrastructure is deemed too expensive (unless it’s AI or whatever)
Like why is there not yet wired internet everywhere in the west. It is absolutely ridiculous that some people have to rely on starlink for a decent connection. I understand that it’s not profitable to lay miles of cable just so Bill from Buttfuck Ohio can pay $20 a month to have access to it. That didn’t use to stop us for electricity and water though. Just because some rent seeking motherfucker isn’t raking it in doesn’t mean it’s not valuable to society as a whole.
Just print some money, upgrade the damn power grid and make us less dependent on fossil fuels. It might even help the climate if anyone still gives a fuck about that.
Thats part of the backlash though.
The people, would MUCH prefer the infrastructure get updated for EVs, not just a single pipe for Data Center kickbacks to council members.
I’m not disagreeing with the sentiment, just clarifying that the grid, as it stands today, is inadequate for a full electric future. That wasn’t a lie. Clearly it is doable, they just choose not to because it isn’t as profitable.