There’s little doubt that AI data centers have become one of the hottest issues, if not THE hottest issue, at every level of government from the White House to the county level. Although I’m not the smartest person in the world when it comes to data centers, having spent 40 years working in every aspect of IT, I do know quite a bit about data and the hardware needed to drive that data. Currently, here in New Mexico, our local TV stations are pummeling viewers with adds paid for by Oracle, featuring a young Latina who looks like a New Mexican and touts all of the wonderful benefits of Project Jupiter in Doña Ana County, calling it “data done right”. Not surprisingly, she’s not a New Mexican at all. As it turns out, she’s a Puerto Rican actress from New York City. Without getting into the specifics about where her ads mislead (and sometimes outright lie to) the viewing public, Project Jupiter is “data done wrong”. I’m not necessarily opposed to data centers, per se, if they are truly “done right”, but every data center proposal that I’ve looked at, including Project Jupiter, indicates that they’re “data done as cheaply as possible”. So, what could they do differently to make them come closer to “right”?

Every microprocessor ever put into every computer ever built, from cell phones on up to mainframe and mid-range servers, generates heat. The more powerful the computer, the hotter the processors, so any large-scale server farm, which is really all that a data center is, generates an enormous amount of heat that needs to be dissipated. Simple heat sinks and cooling fans are adequate for most personal computers, but more advanced cooling systems are necessary for larger servers. How much cooling is needed is dependent both on the server itself and on the ambient air temperature around the server, and this is where the biggest single shortcoming of AI data centers comes into play. Data center construction plans all call for them to be built on the surface, where ambient air temperatures in the summer, especially down int the El Paso/Las Cruces area, and to a lesser degree here in Torrance County, are frequently over 100 degrees. But, if instead of building “up”, because it’s less expensive, if the builders would excavate to build “down”, temperatures are significantly lower. Below 10 feet down, going as far down as 50 feet or so, the ambient air temperature is pretty constant year-round at about 55 degrees, so the cooling needs would be lessened. But excavating adds to the expense.

Data centers typically use a water-cooling process, passing cool water in a closed loop system over the hot processors. Project Jupiter has claimed that they would only use one pull of water to fill their closed-loop cooling system, but their initial projection of how much of a pull from our (scarce) water supply doubled soon after they started applying for permits and has now more than quadrupled. And they’re now admitting that they would need to periodically drain the loop to clean out corrosion and then recharge the system. However, if they were to use a non-corrosive coolant like ethylene or propylene glycol there would be less water needed and purging to clean the cooling system would be far less frequent. Plus, the cooling effect would be more efficient. Of course, they would need to come up with an environmentally friendly plan for disposing of the coolant and safeguarding against leaks, but they would need to do that with a water-cooled system as well.

Another advantage of “building down” is that the ground surface above the data center could be used for a solar farm to help with the electrical energy needs, which are massive for a data center. Then there is the matter of the low-frequency vibrations, that are perceived as a “hum” by humans. Millie saw an article the other day where a rancher in Texas had a data center right next to his ranch. This past spring his herd produced 24 calves, every one of which was born stillborn. I don’t know if that can be attributed to the low-frequency vibrations from the data center, but that’s a possibility. I don’t know if anyone has done research into the effects of these vibrations on embryos, but I suspect that it’s a possibility. So, putting the data center underground would logically at least muffle the annoying, and potentially dangerous, vibrations.

One of the other concerns of data centers is that they need a very high level of security, including daylight-level artificial lighting at night, which seriously disturbs the area’s natural habitat for the wildlife. Going underground also reduces security concerns, since the facility could be built with only one way into the facility and only one-way emergency exits in addition to that entrance. Security could be as high as my former work location inside Albuquerque’s Four Hills, where we were about a quarter of a mile underground in one of the most secure facilities on the planet, with very little lighting needed except for the parking lot.

In short, if I win in November, I will push hard for zoning ordinances that would prohibit data centers being built on the surface and prohibit large-scale water-cooling systems. If they’re required to go underground with their data center and use an ethylene or propylene glycol cooling system, those requirements would make developers think twice about building in Torrance County in the first place because of the increased cost of construction to meet the code for that type of operation. It would force them to REALLY “do data right” if they want to come here.