Over a dozen people packed the Western Virginia Water Authority meeting on Thursday to voice their concerns about the proposed Google AI Data Center that would be placed in Botetourt County.
Many speakers voiced their concern with what they perceived as a lack of transparency.
“If this was a good deal? This area would probably accept it,” Adam Murphy said. “But as long as you continue to hide it and you choose not to advocate for transparency, there is going to be people in this community who will organize and fight this.”
Others were concerned with how any gallons of water the proposed data center would use.
“They have given us no guarantees whatsoever where this water is going to come from,” Botetourt County resident Greg Rieley said. “We are concerned about our wells. According to some estimates, electricity prices will be up by 127% in places where they have installed Google Data Centers.
Michael McEvoy, executive director of the Western Virginia Water Authority, says that those numbers are protected by a non-disclosure agreement.
“They’ve asserted that that’s privileged information and we are respecting that agreement,” McEvoy said.
McEvoy also pointed out the economic impact that Google could bring to the region.
“Current vendors of Google at their other data center sites will almost invariably move here and locate,” McEvoy said. “So it’s going to bring additional jobs and business investment beyond their investment at Greenfield.”
Locals, however, would rather weigh the pros and cons of a data center before making a decision.
“Give us, the people you represent, the information we need to decide for ourselves if this is in our best interests,” Ben Verschoor said. “Something is wrong, so do the right thing. Don’t carry water for Google; protect it from them.