Not everyone who addressed the commissioners on Monday was equally chary about the potential impact of data centers.
Susan Bertuccelli endorsed the proposed moratorium in order to give county officials some time to weed out the “misconceptions” that she said the critics of these facilities have been circulating.
“Most of the data centers today use natural gas to produce their electricity but the newer ones are using alternative sources of energy . . . The same is true for high water use. There are options that can cut water usage by 90 to 95 percent.”
– Susan Bertuccelli
“Most of the data centers today use natural gas to produce their electricity but the newer ones are using alternative sources of energy…The same is true for high water use. There are options that can cut water usage by 90 to 95 percent.”
Bertuccelli’s remarks were greeted by a chorus of boos from the audience. The crowd also took umbrage to Rudy Cartassi, a one-time Republican contender for the board of commissioners who recalled his personal involvement in a bitcoin data center nearly a decade ago. Cartassi said that his experiences have convinced him that most of the complaints about data centers aren’t worth the storage space that’s used to preserve them.
“Let’s have an honest conversation. It’s not about power, it’s not about Internet running slow, and it’s not about water. It’s about noise.”
– Rudy Cartassi
“Let’s have an honest conversation,” he added. “It’s not about power, it’s not about Internet running slow, and it’s not about water. It’s about noise.”
Cartassi insisted that the county would have all the regulation it needs if it develops a sensible policy to address the noise pollution from data centers.
The commissioners also heard from two other speakers who explicitly spoke out against the idea of a moratorium.
Michael Cocchiola took this rather unpopular position on the apparent assumption that the county intended to impose the moratorium for its own sake rather than use it to draft new regulations. Cocchiola went on to propose some regulations that he said would be worthwhile in Alamance County without acknowledging that these efforts could be confounded if the door remains open to new applications.
Meanwhile, Matt Stansberry argued against a moratorium in the pessimistic expectation that any rules that county may implement would be inadequate to the purpose.
“I wouldn’t want a hyperscale data center next to my house. But I think this moratorium is political theater . . . It is aimed at a hypothetical problem while this county is failing residents on problems that are already here. . . I have a really hard time watching this county suddenly discover an urgent need to protect the residents from an industry that, as far as I know, doesn’t have any projects [pending].”
– Matt Stansberry
“I wouldn’t want a hyperscale data center next to my house,” Stansberry admitted. “But I think this moratorium is political theater…It is aimed at a hypothetical problem while this county is failing residents on problems that are already here…I have a really hard time watching this county suddenly discover an urgent need to protect the residents from an industry that, as far as I know, doesn’t have any projects [pending].”
