As the Springfield City Council considers enacting a 120-day moratorium on accepting new applications for data center projects, a group of about 60 people protested artificial intelligence data centers in front of Plaza Towers on Tuesday, June 23.

Concerns Over Data Centers

Residents expressed concerns about the impact of data centers on water and air, noise pollution, and energy use. Attendees also shared a wide variety of reasons for being opposed to AI technology.

Springfield has met with one developer who is interested in potentially creating a data center within a planned development on South National Avenue, according to City Manager David Cameron. City Council is expected to vote on the proposed data center moratorium during a special meeting on Monday, June 29.

Defining Data Centers

If City Council approves the moratorium, city staff would use the 120 days to analyze land use compatibility, impacts on electric, water, and wastewater infrastructure, and noise and air impacts, in addition to the potential economic impact of data center projects.

Springfield would also begin a series of public meetings to gather community input. Cameron said the city could choose to extend the period of study and community input for longer than 120 days.

Cameron noted that the term ‘data center’ is used colloquially to describe developments that vary widely in size, scale, purpose, and impact. He emphasized the need to establish a clear definition of ‘data center’ in the city code.

Developer’s Concept

City staff have been discussing data centers for months, but pre-development discussions with a developer ‘brought to the forefront all the work we have been doing,’ Cameron said. The possible planned development has ‘multiple facets’ and ‘some of the components’ of a data center, according to Cameron.

The property being considered for the development is at 2900 S. National Ave. and encompasses about 2.8 acres, including two medical office buildings and 30,876 square feet of commercial space.

Original reporting: Springfield Daily Citizen — read the source article.