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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-08-20--CAC Data Centers Presentation FILEDDAT A CENTERS Impacts to and Considerations for South Bend Ben Inskeep binskeep@citact.org August 20, 2026 : CITIZENSACTIONCOALITION ---turning on citizen power Filed in Clerk's Office AUG 2 0 2026 Bianca Tirado City Clerk, South Bend, IN ■ CAC is a nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy organization. ■ Since our inception in 197 4, we've helped to save Hoosiers billions in excess utility charges. ■ We advocate for affordable utility bills, a cleaner environment, and a stronger democracy in Indiana. Research, public education, & organizing Legislative advocacy Regulatory advocacy & litigation ■ Al data centers, like Amazon in New Carlisle, have extremely large impacts ■ State, regional, and federal policies do not protect South Bend residents from many of these impacts ■ A data center moratorium would give South Bend time to review existing data center policy and establish a collaborative process for updating it with resident input before additional data center proposals can be approved ~: Ctll~~~~n~~~!!?w~C£~~i~lS~ 3 Photo: A small portion of Amazon's sprawling data center campus in New Carlisle, IN, that will span at least 30 buildings once completed. Credit: The New York Times rt= C~I~~~~n5~~I!~~C£>fw.?11!!2~ ■What are data centers? ·11 Facilities that store, process, and manage data Use fiber optic cable network to transmit data ■New Trend ■ Very large, energy-intensive hyperscale data centers Used for generative Artificial Intelligence (Al) model training and inference 4 ■ Key Factors ✓ Subsidies: ■ State & local incentives ■ Legislative & regulatory capture ✓ Infrastructure: ■ Electric ■ Natural gas ■ Fiber optic ■ Transportation ✓ Lower Costs: Land, labor, taxes ✓ Proximity: Population centers ✓ Natural Disaster Risk: Small for hurricanes & wildfires Indiana is one of the largest emerging markets ~~-----/. 4 {F" ·~ -..,_ I"'"\ '. ~ I -~ --~c---.J\.... . t \ if "'l_ ', ,.,.""--~✓ i ' \. ~--f O ) ,, • • I ,...,. ) .,c, C I ® r' ~r.~ .. ·.,o·-·',:,.__~ s:. ·•-~.~·. ? .. · \_,,------. ----\ \ "\M:( ~ \} f -., ~l,@ ,'.f. \" 1,.,_ -• w'i \.l.o • "' I V t -\~)41 0 I 't .. ;.,>, ., ---, I-. ·· -\ 1 f L;..--.r F7 0 ~0' ~ -"'.·:Ji.,,, ~1' ~\!))' ''·q • <' l ·-,,, \ '' -----' J ' ' 0 f\ ' ' -J \... 0\@ I @ 0 }··--:----i ~~ • V ""-'" "t \ , ~--L ,o ,. \r' ---~--·--r--·· _ 1 ~ •... -z-.,., __ _ ~-' -' \---2./-r-0 w • :'. !\ o e j l. 0 l . (· ---\ -~;." j ~" ""-">""-.,-[ \ i§!..\\~ ' r . -•\ 'il-1 ,_ ------r-__._ \ \ , '-" " I , ) I L-. ---\ .. -..,f \' ' (9) , )0. \.,-_•.·:s' )-~•""-. \ ,......... -,d'" j ..,, . ,.1 '\' .(;-r"~".,.,,;v~ \ \ / \ 0 \ \,{ ! Time Period I ') Credit: EPRI, June 2026 II 2021 ■ 2024 ,. 2030 Nominal IT Capac it) @) ~: C;I~~~~n~~~!2.~c2!~j1J~2~ GW 5 High Voltage Transmission Infrastructure -Map Credit: GridStatus.io "&. ~ 1z_ (Q~ ~t; 69kV • ~~~o ... (>~So ~ \ 1'>._,0 ·~t,~ 138kV e-.:. ~S.ft, ~.;;4S kv. -t SBN • • Darden Substation 13Bk11 • • • AEP Notre Dame Substation $ ~ • • • • 1•·:---• w 00 ~ / • • 09.+v i I ruth~nd bstation South Bend • ~, ,,,,,.-, • Af P Capital Ave/ AEP West Side Substation • • • --AEP Kankakee Substation • I F•oad ~ ~ ~Or~ • Russ Substation • Currant Rd Substation Af P East Side ' Substation Mish,hv.lkd • Twin Branch • J ·7" • •· • •• AEP Dragoon Stat.ion i ~ Grid Infrastructure / Voltage© ~ -735+ kV !I,* ~ -500 kV -345 kV -230 kV -115-161 kV ;-:s 100 kV rt= C;Jr~~~~n~~~!!?w~C9fw~11!l?o~ 6 "Perhaps the largest concentration of cross-country fiber networks passes through South Bend near Union Station." -ChoiceLiaht Map Credit: PNNL rt= S1l~~~~n~~~!!2~C9!w~11!!S~ 7 ■ Energy & Water Consumption ■ Dewatering & Water Pollution ■ Air Pollution & GHG Emissions ■ Noise Pollution ■ Loss of Farmland & Wetlands ■ Price Increases ■ Grid lnstabil.ity / Reliability Issues ■ Heavily Subsidized ■ Lack of Transparency ■ Property Values ■ Heat Island Effect ■ Negative Impacts of Al Use ~/ llflll'l'l'IIJllllllljiL-----:{) "What if I told you there was a product that would make all of your lives much worse, but me much richer?" Credit: Erika Sjule rt= C;J~~~~n~~~!!?w~C~!w~1IJ!?o~ 8 ■ A very large Al data center can use --10 times more power than a very large industrial user ■ Equal to the electricity use of 1.6 million Hoosier households ■ Each coal, natural gas, or nuclear power plant uses millions or tens of millions of gallons of water per day Selected Large Loads in Indiana (MW) ~= ct1l~~~~~~;~!~~c2~~~~l!S~ Rolls-Royce Engine Testing I 40 SK Hynix Semiconductor Plant I 50 Ethanol Refinery Mt. Vernon I 90 Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Habor 285 Linde Air Separation Plant 330 Amazon -New Carlisle 2,250 Source: CAC analysis using public data from MISO, "AC/BOD Discussion Additional Information," July 30, 2024; Media reports; Cause Nos. 46038 and 46097. rt= C;l~~;~n~~~!!~~C?w~?i~!S~ 9 ■ Each large Al data center can have: Hundreds of backup diesel generators onsite Millions of gallons of diesel stored onsite ■ Generator nuisances: Very noisy Air pollution ■ Amazon -New Carlisle: 910 generators 2,442 MW of backup power 6 million gallons of fuel storage Photo: Backup diesel generators at a data center (foreground) adjacent to a retirement community (background}. Credit: Ben Inskeep I CAC ..41: CITIZENSACTIONCOALITION i..::_:turning on citizen power www.citact.org 10 ■ Water Consumption On-site: Depends on technology; up to million of gallons per day Off-site: Up to tens of million gallons per day ■ Water Pollution Chemical, thermal, diesel fuel II Meta data center released harmful bacterium into wastewater in Wyoming, leading to months where water reuse system was not operable ■ Dewatering land E.g., Amazon's New Carlisle data center will pump-and-dump up to 19 billion gallons during construction ■ Destruction of Wetlands . =.~~·~~~.\~lnHr~ I " ~~. I ·~T .,~ ii If?-_:_-" , ~ .-WJuffi-N W4:-i:io1 ~ ~---rr.b r-!J:-== ~'l-,---~7 iuTLJf(_ I lf •. I ! •I.•',' 1 ':-"'II~ ,l•""~-~---~--~--..;.,., , __ ,,,_"~' .... • IJ"'TlTrrm111m.· ~=m+r1ITT !.iif. I' 4::1.JL"" ~ f-H1Ukf ~g 60 l.' .,,·. ~ ' . ,-·-· ·---~ \-: ,i ~-~-.e . . ~ ·+ .... ::...-.J . Streijm P' r C_ • 7 ~ -~=~"'l Figure: Amazon is siting several data center buildings on wetlands in New Carlisle, IN. rt= Ctll~%~~n~~~!!?w~C?fw~ilJ!2~ 11 OUTDOOR COOLING UNITS: WATER AND ENERGY USAGE BY COOLER TYPE + MOST USAGE ORY COOLERS ADIABATIC COOLERS HYBRID COOLERS ~-:.~--••• ' .,. •• ..• ,----·,~ • ~, ... ,.; ~-~~ ·~-Credit: Baltimore Aircoil Company rt= CITIZENSACTIONCOALITION turning on citizen power www.citact.org EVAPORATIVE COOLERS / TOWERS Known Unknown ■ New Carlisle supplies water ■ What type of pollution is in the from Kankakee Aquifer wastewater? ■ Amazon paying $62. 7 million ■ Use and discharge of PFAS for water & $51.3 million for sewer infrastructure (forever chemicals)? improvements ■ How much water will be used ■ Amazon is allowed use and when? millions of gallons per day, but claims air cooling 90o/o+ of ■ Rate impacts to other the year customers ■ South Bend takes Amazon's wastewater 13 ■ Siting • Limit to Industrial Zones ■ Noise • Noise study, limits, & mitigation ■ Setbacks • At least one-half mile from . Residential ■ Screening Photo: Michael Clubb / South Bend Tribune ■ Decommissioning ■ Enforcement ■ Transparency I Disclosure ■ Energy'& Water Use rt= c!l~~~~n5~~!!?w~C£_~~;1!l?o~ 14 "North Star Data Center Policy Toolkit" by Al Now Institute https://datacenters.ainowinstitute.org/local/ North Star Data Center Policy Toolkit Local State & Re,gional Federal Issue Areas + 1. Pass a moratorium on data centers while zoning requirements are developed 2. 3. Otherwise, new zoning requirements will not apply to data center proposals received now Establish a citizens advisory committee comprised of residents of South Bend to draft an ordinance or provide input • E.g., Hancock County created a Citizens' Advisory Committee on Data Center Siting Create multiple opportunities for public comment • Early in the process to get broad input • After draft ordinance is proposed to get specific input rt= C~J~~~~n5~~!!~~C9!w~11Jl?o~ Counties with a Moratorium or Ban on Data Centers .-----·-f ~~~ CJ□ D \ ) ~ ,.J ) I r J~l ~ > ~ 1 . ('.,~ _,,/\~J ~M "-\.} • V {!Cft~~~r~g~~~~!l~~~0/\1 fTION 16