Data Centers, the AI Bubble, and Broken Promises

Dear Editor,

Data centers are metastasizing like a tumor across our country. Much has already been written about the major harms to groundwater supply, local air quality (most data centers use diesel backup generators), and local noise pollution. Two further points should be taken into account. The first is the proposed 'AI bubble', and the second is local electricity rates.

Multiple luminaries highlight the AI bubble risk. Sam Altman of OpenAI, maker of Chat GPT and long considered the guru of AI, is quoted as stating 'Yes, investors are overexcited about AI'. Forbes magazine, soothsayers of the wider economy, report of current AI predictions '...inflated expectations setting the stage for a sharp correction.' (8/21/25). A Moody's Analytics report 5/2025 details possible overbuild, technical obsolescence, and disruptions from tariffs as risks to data centers.

The second factor to consider is the harm to local citizens due to increasing electricity rates. Goldman Sachs reports a likely 165% increase in data center power demand by 2030; this power has to come from somewhere, and while data centers often use diesel backup on site, baseline power comes from the local grid. Local grids are already outdated and under strain.

As a final cautionary note, I would point to the Foxconn project in Racine and Mount Pleasant in the late 2010's. A massive infrastructure project was undertaken to attract a developer; people's homes were moved, their lives disrupted, the local land bulldozed for...what exactly? Empty promises.

Sincerely,

Nathan Dombeck, Janesville, WI