Each issue shows the strongest sourced fact on both sides.
Electricity & power bills
Supporters point to1¢+/kWh lowerFrom 2019 to 2024, states with the fastest demand growth saw inflation-adjusted electricity prices fall by more than 1¢ per kilowatt-hour.GovernmentBerkeley Lab & Brattle, Oct 2025
Critics point to+8% by 2030Projected increase in average U.S. electricity generation costs from data center and crypto growth — over 25% in central and northern Virginia.AcademicCarnegie Mellon & NC State, Jul 2025
Water
Supporters point to≤8.4M gal/yrProjected use for Microsoft’s mostly closed-loop Wisconsin campus at full build — about 1/13 of a typical 18-hole golf course.GovernmentCity of Racine records, via WPR
Critics point to2.8M gal/dayAverage water consumed per day in 2024 by Google’s Council Bluffs, Iowa data center — and not every new build is closed-loop.IndustryGoogle 2025 Environmental Report
Jobs & taxes
Supporters point to$1.2B · 39%Loudoun County, Virginia collected $1.2 billion in property taxes from data centers in FY2026 — 39% of its budget.GovernmentLoudoun County
Critics point to$2.7B exemptedVirginia’s data center sales tax exemption was 53% of all state incentive spending, FY2015–FY2024. About 80% of jobs the industry supports are tied to construction.GovernmentVirginia JLARC, 2024–2025
Noise
Supporters point to40–59 dBEven at sites that drew complaints, Virginia’s legislative auditors estimated noise between library-quiet and normal conversation.GovernmentVirginia JLARC, Dec 2024
Critics point to~10% of sitesAt least 15 Virginia data centers produce a constant hum residents find problematic — one standard noise limits don’t fully capture.GovernmentVirginia JLARC, Dec 2024
Water use per year, typical
Millions of gallons. Closed-loop data center vs. common land uses.
Closed-loop data center campus
8.4M
100-acre irrigated cornfield
49M
100-acre avocado grove
98M
18-hole golf course
113M
Caveat: closed-loop cooling trades some water for slightly higher energy use, and not every new build uses it. Sources: GovernmentCity of Racine records (Microsoft campus, full build) · Industry GCSAA (golf) · Industry California Avocado Commission · Academic Texas Tech (corn). Links to the farm and golf originals pending.
How loud is it?
Decibels by distance. +10 dB sounds about twice as loud.
Source
100 ft
¼ mi
1 mi
New data center
50–65
35–45
25–35
Gas lawn mower
~60
~40
~25
Gas leaf blower
~70
~45
~35
Busy freeway
70–75
55–60
45–50
Train horn
96–110
85–90
70–75
Estimates: data center levels apply the standard 6 dB drop per doubling of distance to typical measured levels; other sources use typical published values. Original sources pending.
The five largest projects by power. Power is the computing load in megawatts, estimated by Epoch AI. Sources for every row are on the full tracker.
Why this site exists
“Most arguments about data centers were long on opinion and emotion and short on facts and logic. I went looking for one place to find the facts and hear the other side civilly. I couldn’t find one, so I built it.”