Data Center
March 30, 2025 at 5:55 p.m.
Editor, Times-Union:
I am writing this letter in response to the proposed construction of a data center in the Leesburg/Clunette area. The proposed site is 1 mile from where my wife and I currently live.
I am in total agreement with all the objections listed in previous letters. These objections are loss of prime farm land, excessive water consumption, increased energy use on an already strained electrical grid, infrastructure challenges during construction and the impact on the environment. A project of this magnitude could be a life changer for myself and many of my neighbors.
For those that don’t know, data centers are constructed to house servers for Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta. Such servers are used for Cloud computing and artificial intelligence. There are also data centers that are specifically designed for the mining of cryptocurrency and those centers require even more water for cooling and energy consumption. There are presently 3,534 data centers in the U.S. and another 4,750 new centers will be constructed in 2025. Indiana presently has 56.
I am a 71-year-old citizen that still is not on board with our growing dependence on technology and I am concerned of how that dependence is going to affect our nation and future generations. Billionaires and soon to be trillionaires are building financial empires around our addiction to their products and our excesses. I am gravely concerned as the current administration surrounds itself with tech giants and touts that our nation will be the leader in cryptocurrency.
Please keep in mind that none of these centers would be possible without the cooperation of land owners willing to profit before being responsible neighbors and zoning commissioners willing to bend to the needs of the minority. One person’s rights end where another’s rights begin.
I’ll end with a plea to those that have the power to change lives to do so in a positive way. Please take into consideration how your actions will affect others and be the trusted servants we elected you to be. You can be the change this world presently needs, one acre at a time.
Nick Yoder
Leesburg, via email
Editor, Times-Union:
I am writing this letter in response to the proposed construction of a data center in the Leesburg/Clunette area. The proposed site is 1 mile from where my wife and I currently live.
I am in total agreement with all the objections listed in previous letters. These objections are loss of prime farm land, excessive water consumption, increased energy use on an already strained electrical grid, infrastructure challenges during construction and the impact on the environment. A project of this magnitude could be a life changer for myself and many of my neighbors.
For those that don’t know, data centers are constructed to house servers for Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta. Such servers are used for Cloud computing and artificial intelligence. There are also data centers that are specifically designed for the mining of cryptocurrency and those centers require even more water for cooling and energy consumption. There are presently 3,534 data centers in the U.S. and another 4,750 new centers will be constructed in 2025. Indiana presently has 56.
I am a 71-year-old citizen that still is not on board with our growing dependence on technology and I am concerned of how that dependence is going to affect our nation and future generations. Billionaires and soon to be trillionaires are building financial empires around our addiction to their products and our excesses. I am gravely concerned as the current administration surrounds itself with tech giants and touts that our nation will be the leader in cryptocurrency.
Please keep in mind that none of these centers would be possible without the cooperation of land owners willing to profit before being responsible neighbors and zoning commissioners willing to bend to the needs of the minority. One person’s rights end where another’s rights begin.
I’ll end with a plea to those that have the power to change lives to do so in a positive way. Please take into consideration how your actions will affect others and be the trusted servants we elected you to be. You can be the change this world presently needs, one acre at a time.
Nick Yoder
Leesburg, via email