Thread

1. thelittlenag · 1790777300 · focus · HN ↗

   Maybe I'm being naive, but the policies needed here feel quite simple.

   First, since data centers likely need some kind of treated (i.e. demineralized) water, and they want to use local municipal supplies, then they can do so only if they pay full market rate for that water. I would push for them to pay 1% to 5% above market rate to help offset other costs, but market rate at minimum. At no point should homeowners and/or residential customers subsidize this usage.

   Second, commercial users (including data centers) should only get water produced by treatment plants in excess of residential needs. Plants can only treat so much, pipes can only carry so much, and priority goes to residential first.

   Third, ground water is off limits for any commercial/industrial evaporative cooling uses. If data centers want to cool that way, then they need a different source of water.

   Did I miss anything?

   1. malvim · 1790777626 · focus · HN ↗

      Well, even if you're right, try proposing those bills and then reckon with the deafening wails of the "free-market-big-government-taxation-is-theft" crowd. And the politicians that are in the pockets of BigCo that will say that kind of stuff.

      Policies are simple a lot of times. Politics against the interest of big money isn't.

   2. devolving-dev · 1790777848 · focus · HN ↗

      If they pay market rate, the clearing price will go up making things more expensive for everyone. If they go off-grid they make the machines needed to produce water or electricity or whatever more expensive. If they borrow money, they make government bond yields go up and cause governments to start thinking about cutting pensions and stuff, not to mention increased mortgage rates for whoever wants to buy a home or is on a variable rate mortgage. There's no world in which this AI stuff doesn't increase costs for the rest of us.
   3. boplicity · 1790778049 · focus · HN ↗

      The main thing is evaporative cooling is incredibly wasteful. The water should be returned to the system, if it's going to be used, and not sent into the atmosphere. This is especially important in regions with limited access to water, which, ironically, is where many data centers seem to be located.
   4. throwfaraway4 · 1790778174 · focus · HN ↗

      They need to pay for the infrastructure upgrades to water and electric when it inevitably exceeds capacity

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