Data Centers DEPLETING Water, Electricity? The Truth REVEALED: Robby Soave | RISING
The short version: Robby Soave downplays data center water and power impacts on Rising, but the communities footing the bills see it differently.
Our Take
Robby Soave's take on Rising treats the data center backlash as mostly overblown — a familiar move we're seeing more of as the industry's PR push ramps up alongside the buildout itself. Credit to The Hill for putting the debate on air, but "the truth revealed" framing does a lot of heavy lifting when the actual truth is messier and varies wildly by zip code.
Here's what gets lost in these studio-panel takes: national averages don't mean much to a family in Georgia or Arizona whose water utility just asked for a rate hike, or a household watching their electric bill climb because a new hyperscale campus got priority grid interconnection. These deals get signed by local utility commissions and county boards, often with tax abatements and confidentiality clauses that keep ratepayers in the dark until the bill arrives. That's not backlash for its own sake — it's people asking who actually approved this and why they weren't in the room.
We'd rather let readers look at the real footprint than argue about vibes on cable news. Check our facility map to see what's being built near you, and if you want to push back on a project or public records request, our take-action page has the tools.
This is GridWatch the USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of The Hill, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.