Seattle City Leaders are considering a moratorium on new large-scale artificial intelligence data centers after residents voiced strong concerns Wednesday at Seattle City Council’s Land Use & Sustainability meeting.
Some Seattle residents expressed major concern, even fear, of the potential impacts to the city as a whole, but also on the city’s power supply, water usage, and increased utility rates.
City agencies that have researched the topic published several reports for the council’s committee and acknowledged that the introduction of several such facilities could create unprecedented power demand and potentially increase rates for average consumers.
Tech companies argue that AI technology requires significant processing power, and residents fear these centers will force them to pay more for essential resources.
Ben Jones, a Seattle resident, attended the committee meeting and delivered public comments. He emphasized his desire for local benefits.
“I want these facilities and these developers and this technology to benefit the people that live here,” Jones said.
Emily Johnston, another resident, highlighted the substantial resource consumption these centers require.
“It’s a tremendous amount of land, it’s a tremendous amount of power, it’s a tremendous amount of water,” said Johnson.
Seattle’s construction department is concerned about the significant water usage by data centers, along with potential noise and emissions, and whether land use could essentially take up space that would allow for another business with larger employment prospects.
In its report, Seattle’s Department of Construction and Inspections states. ”They (data centers) may also take up land that could be utilized for more employment-intensive uses.”
Johnston suggested a year-long moratorium could be useful: “We need to use that year to figure, as a city, exactly what it would look like to do this in a way that was fair, in a way that benefited the city,” she said.
Johnston also has general reservations over the technology and how it’s being deployed, “I think it’s a profoundly problematic tech on the current trajectory there is.”
Jones shared a similar sentiment regarding public agency, “people feel like they have no choice in this tech, they feel like it’s being crammed down their throats. I feel that way,” He added.
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