A LOCAL ELECTRICIAN'S TAKE ON DATA CENTERS

Each wave of changes to the ways we acquire and use energy here in Northern Colorado has been bigger and faster than the last. Some are good, some are more complicated. The latest one that falls into both categories is something we’re watching really closely: the data center boom.

And this is an issue where I personally find myself right in the middle. On the one hand, construction of these data centers is providing jobs for electricians. On the other hand, I know what kind of a strain these are putting on our local resources. Our dairies – including my own family and people we’ve worked with for years through HPR – has been running out of water since long before the data centers entered the scene.

When you're in the middle of something like that, you can't just pick a side and call it a day. This is complicated, and it deserves better than the usual "data centers are evil" or "progress at any cost" arguments. So I wanted to share some of my research and perspective on the two (of many) sides to this issue.

What a data center actually is

Data centers are the facilities that power everything we do online – not just AI. Email, banking, streaming, cloud storage and more all run through these massive buildings packed with servers. Colorado has about 56 of them, mostly around Denver and Colorado Springs. They've been around for decades, but now AI is changing the game. Training and running AI models takes way more computing power than what we've been using, and that means we need bigger facilities. There's a hyperscale data center going up in Aurora right now that's going to be one of the largest electricity customers Xcel Energy has.

These projects create real jobs. The kind of technical, skilled work that gets young people excited about the trades. I frequently talk about how a career as an electrician means good pay, interesting work, and a future you can build on. Data center construction is exactly that kind of opportunity. But there’s more to it.

The infrastructure reality: water and powerAccording to an article from the Colorado Sun, data centers can use water that's already been treated to drinking water standards, which puts more strain on utilities that already serve homes, businesses, and farms. Some use their own wells. Either way, they use a lot. The same article states that by 2035, on-site water use at data centers in Colorado and four other Western states could grow by about 21,600 acre-feet. That's roughly the amount of water used by 43,000 to 86,000 households each year.

Our dairy farms are already feeling this. Northern Colorado's water situation is already affecting real operations right now. When farmers are making choices and investments in order to both cool their equipment and water their livestock, we're already at the edge of what our system can handle.

And then there's the power side. These facilities pull enormous loads from the grid. The Colorado Sun says, “National data center energy demand has tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple again by 2028”. That includes upgrading substations, adding transmission lines, and figuring out who pays for all of it. When utilities build infrastructure to meet projected demand that might not materialize, current ratepayers end up holding the tab.

Here's something most people don't think about: generating electricity requires water too. Unless it's wind or solar, power plants use water to create steam and cool their systems. So when you factor in both the on-site water use at data centers and the off-site water needed to power them, the Colorado Sun says total water use balloons to over 89,700 acre-feet by 2035.I get the frustration. But shutting down data center development entirely isn't realistic, and here's why: we all use this stuff. The tools we rely on every day from the apps on your phone, the cloud backup for your photos, to the AI assistant helping you schedule appointments, all of that requires infrastructure somewhere. If we don't build it here, it gets built in another state, and we still use the service.

There's also the economic reality. Construction means jobs, property taxes, and businesses that support these facilities. For electricians, it's steady, skilled work at good wages. These are jobs that require real technical knowledge and problem-solving. It’s a big deal when we're trying to build a workforce for the future.

Without some kind of imminent change in the way we do things each day, there’s really no question whether we need data centers. What we should be asking is whether we're building them the right way, in the right places, with the right safeguards.

Here in Northern Colorado, we need better conversations about where these facilities go, what water efficiency requirements they meet, and how we plan for infrastructure limits.

Fortunately, the state's starting to pay attention. The Public Utilities Commission is working on guidelines for utilities negotiating with data center companies, and there are bills moving through the legislature right now. Some are focused on incentives, others on environmental standards. That's a good start, but it's not enough. We need transparency about water use, both on-site and in power generation. We need local communities to have a real say in these decisions, not just find out after deals are done.

This could be game-changing for Colorado, but only if we're willing to think harder about the trade-offs.

What you can do

On the individual level, think about your own energy use. Solar panels, better insulation, efficient appliances: these aren't just feel-good moves. They reduce the load on the grid, which gives our infrastructure more breathing room. We've been helping homeowners with this kind of work for years, and the technology keeps getting better and more affordable.

On the community level, show up. City council meetings, county commissioner hearings, water board discussions: that's where the decisions are made. If you care about how Northern Colorado grows, that's where your voice matters.

I won’t tell you which side to pick. But I can tell you this is complicated, and it deserves some critical thought. We live here. We raise our families here. We run businesses here.