I ran for a local office this last election in Jefferson County. In one of my cottage meetings, I was asked about data centers. About the same time, there have been many concerns posted on Facebook opposing data centers. Some of the concerns sound alarming\u2014they’ll drain our water, gobble up farmland, and overload our power grid. I don\u2019t have any strong feelings or attachment to data centers. But, as I\u2019ve been watching this opposition grow, and honestly, something doesn’t add up. I want to share my views on this issue. I searched, and I found these justifications against data centers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LAND USE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Opponents claim data centers will use up farmland. A data center is the size of a warehouse. Jefferson County has hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land. The footprint of a data center is not a meaningful threat to farming in our region. This argument doesn’t survive basic scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WATER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This one gets repeated constantly. \u201cData centers consume massive amounts of water.\u201d Water will be used to cool the system. However, water used for cooling doesn\u2019t disappear; it is cycled through the system and reused or discharged back to the ground. Water consumption is not a reasonable argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ENERGY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a legitimate concern. Data centers do draw significant power, and that has contributed to rate increases for Idaho customers. Idaho Power implemented a 7.48% average rate increase in January 2026, and farmers have seen power costs rise nearly 45% since 2021\u2014that’s a real pocketbook issue, not just an abstract environmental concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, the energy concern deserves an honest, complete answer\u2014not a bumper sticker. I’ll devote a full article to it later in this series, because the energy picture is far more interesting and far more promising than the opposition wants you to believe. The short version: Idaho sits at the center of the solution, not just the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NOISE AND LIGHT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Both are real quality-of-life issues for neighbors. Both are also solvable through good design standards and local ordinances. We already have the tools\u2014noise mitigation requirements, dark sky ordinances. These are engineering and policy problems with known solutions, not fundamental objections to development itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TRAFFIC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ll be blunt, this one is a stretch. Rural Idaho communities deal with grain trucks, farm equipment, and harvest traffic every single year without demanding moratoriums on agriculture. Construction traffic is temporary. Ongoing operational traffic at a data center is minimal. If traffic is the lead objection, the objection isn’t really about traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JOBS VS. FOOTPRINT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Critics argue that data centers employ relatively few permanent workers for their size. Fair point, these aren’t factories employing hundreds. But they generate property tax revenue, create construction jobs, support local suppliers, and attract further economic development. A community that turns away responsible investment because it doesn’t employ enough permanent workers will find itself turning away a lot of investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WHAT HAS IDAHO’S LEGISLATURE DONE?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Idaho legislators have been wrestling with these same concerns. They got one thing right\u2014in 2023, the legislature blocked data centers from being included in urban renewal districts, which had been routing tax revenue away from general local budgets. Good call. Several other bills aimed at requiring large power users to supply their own electricity, or sunsetting sales tax exemptions, passed the House with strong bipartisan support\u2014including one 60-8\u2014but stalled in the Senate. The legislature is still working through the right balance, which is exactly what should happen at the local and state level rather than being dictated by national activist organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of which\u2014here’s what I find most interesting. The opposition to data centers in Texas, Virginia, and elsewhere hasn’t been spontaneous local uprisings. Investigative reporting has connected major national activist organizations\u2014funded in part by George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and over $39 million in foreign money from Swiss, British, and Danish donors\u2014to coordinated campaigns against data center development across the country. The same playbook used against pipelines and energy infrastructure is now being run against data centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That raises an obvious question: why? What’s the real target?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next week, I’ll answer that question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I ran for a local office this last election in Jefferson County. In one of my cottage meetings, I was asked about data centers. About the same time, there have been many concerns posted on Facebook opposing data centers. 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