Following statewide and local news regarding new development of data centers, two citizens expressed their desire for transparency around any proposed centers here during City of San Angelo Development Corporation’s regular meeting on Monday morning.
During public comment, residents China Young and Heather Wylie addressed concerns about the electricity use from data centers, and potential use of water utilities, among other concerns.
Young stated: “While you may not be able to answer these questions directly at this moment, I do look forward to continuing the conversation and inviting transparency around data centers.”
The COSADC board made no move to schedule future consideration of the data center at this time.
Contacted for a statement on the subject, Texas State Rep. Drew Darby said:
“Data centers represent a new frontier for West Texas. A century ago, when oil was first discovered in our communities, it launched a rapid wave of development and migration to our state. With that growth came important conversations about how to manage our abundant resources to promote economic opportunity while respecting local needs. Today, with the emergence of data centers, we find ourselves revisiting similar questions about how best to use our land, natural resources, and other assets to support economic development in rural Texas, and when it may be appropriate to reserve those resources for other priorities.
This may be the first data center, but it will likely not be the last in our area. How we approach this project will set an important precedent for the future. As the project in San Angelo moves forward, I commend the city for its commitment to openness and public engagement. I also recognize that many residents have specific questions regarding water and power use, and I hope those concerns are raised and thoughtfully addressed. Ultimately, this is a local decision, and I trust the people of San Angelo and their local elected leaders to determine what is best for our community.”
Data and Utilities
At the heart of concerns about data centers are limited resources in West Texas.
Electricity use and water conservation being two topics that most Texans are historically sensitive to, planners such as State Sen. Charles Perry, author of recent conservation amendments, have said that Texas is likely to face water shortages within the next few decades without significant efforts.
Data centers vary in their water usage depending on their applications. Water is used both to generate electricity needed for data centers and to cool the systems, which would rapidly overheat without constant cooling measures. In San Angelo, all of our electricity comes from either fossil fuels, or wind and solar energy.
This is part of the reason West Texas is potentially attractive to data center developers; abundant and cheap energy, and plenty of open land. Despite this abundance, the electricity demand is likely to require additional transmission and generation infrastructure.
According to a study by Houston Advanced Research Center and the University of Houston, data centers can very wildly in their power need. Both ‘hyperscale’ and ‘high-performance computing’ types of data centers require 50-100 megawatt hours of electricity to maintain.
Put into simpler terms: Each hour, a high performance data center might consume up to 10 times the average annual electricity use of a single family home in a year.
Projecting water use both to generate electricity and to cool the centers, the study estimates that hyperscale data center would consumer around 790 gallons of water for each megawatt of energy used. This works out to around 1.8 million gallons per day.
It’s important to note that this estimate is based on hydroelectric energy, water is used to both generate electricity and cool the system. Since the electricity here would not be generated this way, it’s likely that the water use would be significantly less; especially if the systems are sealed and reuse the water; which might require extensive filtration processes if the water they use is recycled.
Context for Water Use
According to COSA Public Works, daily water use in San Angelo varies from 12 million gallons per day in the winter, to 18-20 million gallons per day in the summer. This usage is down, historically, after the city imposed strict conservation measures following the most recent major drought in state history, from 2010 to 2014.
In an interview published in October, director of Public Works Shane Kelton discussed the situation faced by city planners:
“Those years, 2011-13, when we were so low, we had less than 12-months of water supply,” Kelton explained, “We were in the strictest use level in the drought contingency plans. That’s when we had to have some candid conversations with our community. Since then, we saw usage drop off heavily.
“Before, there were 32-33 million gallons a day, sometimes 35.”
Efforts in recent years, like the West Texas Water Partnership and the Hickory Field Expansion, two sources of groundwater; and indirect reuse, are expected by the Region F Water Planning Board to meet customer demand in the near future.
According to the Region F Master Water Plan, projected water usage for manufacturing in 2030, which is what the site of the proposed data center has been zoned as, is expected to increase over the next decades. By 2030, expected demand will reach 14,000 acre-feet per year — or a little over 12 million gallons per day.
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Can you post a follow-up article or an edit to this article discussing health issues, air pollution, and noise pollution associated with data centers across the country?
We will be following up on this story.