Residents raise alarm about concerning trend putting strain on US power grid: 'We're kind of in a big mess right now'

Utah residents have expressed concern after a boom in data centers in the state led companies to move away from clean energy to secure the power they need. 

What's happening?

According to Grist, the state of Utah has been trying to brand itself as a hub for data centers and advanced technologies amid the recent boom in large language models and AI systems.

However, it has run into a problem. 

How can it build all the massive data centers it wants when its power companies can't meet the energy demand those centers will place on the grid? 

Unfortunately for Utah, that means relying on natural gas and oil-powered on-site generators to fuel its continued growth. 

"We're kind of in a big mess right now," said Logan Mitchell, a climate scientist and energy analyst for Utah Clean Energy, "and it's manifesting in all of these different ways."

Why is data center energy usage important?

The conversation in Utah is emblematic of the national conversation about data centers. 

These facilities require massive amounts of power to operate and often use significant amounts of water as well.

A boom in closed-loop cooling systems has reduced that need somewhat, albeit at the expense of higher power requirements. 

All that power has to come from somewhere, and unfortunately, a common source is natural gas or oil. 

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While those sources might provide the power they seek, they also pollute the environment, pumping carbon, methane, and other pollutants into the atmosphere and spoiling views at many of Utah's iconic natural sites. 

Prior to this, Utah had made great strides toward clean energy, bringing it into compliance with federal regulations on wintertime inversion pollution — but the uptick in data center generators could negate those hard-won gains. 

"They're eating into all of the progress we've made to reduce emissions from other sources," Mitchell said. 

What's being done about Utah's data centers?

Currently, authorities in Utah seem more concerned with economic growth in these sectors than with the environmental impact of their presence. 

There has also been a significant push for nuclear power — currently favored by the federal government — over wind and solar energy, in part because it can produce clean power 24/7, regardless of weather conditions. 

But those sorts of projects are years away from completion at this point, which means that while Utah may be a hub for data and technology, it could also see its pollution problem compound in the coming years. 

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