In what may prove to be a contested decision the Bessemer City Council voted 5-2 today to approve a zoning request that will allow for one of the nation’s biggest data centers to be built there.
More data centers are being built nationwide to meet the demand for digital services, including power-hungry artificial intelligence systems. Data centers, which house thousands of servers, are able to store and transmit the data required for internet services to work.
Many data centers also require significant amounts of water to cool their servers. Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day — equivalent to the water use of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people, according to a report from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, a nonprofit that provides educational resources to policymakers and the public.
The Bessemer proposal has received widespread opposition from residents and environmentalists concerned about the environmental impact, while supporters, including the City itself, are touting the economic impact.
The zoning request rezones over 700 acres of forested land from agricultural to light industrial use. The developer says only 100 acres of that will be used for the project. The construction area is near the area known as Rock Mountain Lakes.
The City previously amended its definition of light industrial to allow for the data center to qualify for the new designation.
The current plan has raised concerns about its impact on the future plans for the Northern Beltline.
Questions that are unanswered at this point revolve around the future consumption of available energy and utilities to serve the project and whether new power distribution lines will be constructed to serve the project. Adjoining county landowners could be affected if utility construction projects emerge.
