People want data centers to help local communities

If data centers are to be in their communities, survey respondents support requiring them to invest in rooftop solar panels and home-efficiency projects at nearby homes to help produce the electricity needed by data centers while improving people’s homes and saving them money.

Full sample margin of error +/- 3 percentage points. The question was “Data centers use a lot of electricity. Some people have proposed that, rather than building new power plants just for data centers, developers of data centers should instead install rooftop solar on and/or help weatherize and insulate nearby homes for homeowners who want it. This would produce the electricity needed by data centers while helping local residents improve their homes and save money on their utility bills. How much do you support or oppose making this a state or local requirement for new data center construction?”
Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-NDSource: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication; George Mason University Center for Climate Change CommunicationGet the data Download image