Data
Center
Next
Door

BY LEX CLAY ALFONSO
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Isometric illustration of a data-center campus beside a rural neighborhood: data halls, substation, backup generators, buried fiber, retention ponds, cleared land, and houses on a cul-de-sac.

In the age of AI, data centers are spreading like kudzu across the American South — and most people are not enthused. In fact, more than 7 out of 10 Americans oppose a data center being built near them. But what does a data center actually do? And why does it consume so much power, water and acres of land? Scroll to the infographic to find out.

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