The news is a blow to Gov. JB Pritzker’s climate change-fighting goals too, as demand from AI data centers soars while wind and solar development stalls.
It’s completely sane. You just need to realize that the companies building all the new AI data centers didn’t think they’ll be around for very long. They know they’re inflating a bubble, and don’t want to make any long term investments. Ultra near-term profits are the only consideration. The people at the top of the companies will be totally fine (or even better off than before)when the bubble pops, and they’re the ones making the decisions.
Small-scale gas power is disgustingly cheap and easy to get a permit for.
That said, it doesn’t help that data-centers have been confused for the sort of thing that belongs in/near city-limits - there’s limitted room, so solar/wind become difficult, and no city wants to permit a nuclear generator in its domain.
I am all-for banning new natural-gas build-out as well, but I approached this issue here from the state level first, since the article said Illinois, not just Chicago …
… and again, Pritzker is not to be confused for an ally of the environment or the people, at least not where those conflict with AI and “Quantum Tech”. He’ll just say his constituents need to use less power at the individual/household level. For goddsakes, pressure the hell out of him, threaten to primary him or whatever, on balcony solar, net metering, and basically every solution that’s been brought-up in response to this post.
From what I can tell, datacenters are choosing the expensive things like small-scale gas turbines, a large chunk of the time. Its utter insanity
It’s completely sane. You just need to realize that the companies building all the new AI data centers didn’t think they’ll be around for very long. They know they’re inflating a bubble, and don’t want to make any long term investments. Ultra near-term profits are the only consideration. The people at the top of the companies will be totally fine (or even better off than before)when the bubble pops, and they’re the ones making the decisions.
Small-scale gas power is disgustingly cheap and easy to get a permit for.
That said, it doesn’t help that data-centers have been confused for the sort of thing that belongs in/near city-limits - there’s limitted room, so solar/wind become difficult, and no city wants to permit a nuclear generator in its domain.
I am all-for banning new natural-gas build-out as well, but I approached this issue here from the state level first, since the article said Illinois, not just Chicago …
… and again, Pritzker is not to be confused for an ally of the environment or the people, at least not where those conflict with AI and “Quantum Tech”. He’ll just say his constituents need to use less power at the individual/household level. For goddsakes, pressure the hell out of him, threaten to primary him or whatever, on balcony solar, net metering, and basically every solution that’s been brought-up in response to this post.