https://chloehumbert.substack.com/p/nobody-wants-the-data-centers References: https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/2026/04/21/ppl-acknowledges-expansion-is-based-on-proposed-data-center-projects/ https://youtu.be/3__HO-akNC8 https://youtu.be/_bP80DEAbuo https://whyy.org/articles/shapiro-pa-data-centers-budget-address/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/trump-says-he-has-told-big-tech-companies-build-their-own-power-plants-2026-02-25/ https://chloehumbert.substack.com/p/noisy-monster-palaces https://chloehumbert.substack.com/p/greg-beards-conflicts-of-interest https://www.wvia.org/news/local/2024-04-18/cryptocurrency-company-responds-to-lawsuit https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1856028/000162828024047680/sdig-20240930.htm https://www.wired.com/story/new-gas-powered-data-centers-could-emit-more-greenhouse-gases-than-entire-nations/ https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/2026/03/11/wildcat-ridge-data-center-campus-faces-major-opposition-in-archbald/ https://chloehumbert.substack.com/p/speculative-data-centers https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/2026/03/13/can-utilities-handle-data-centers-electricity-sewer-and-water-needs/ Transcript: I’m Chloe Humbert, and I see reported in the news on the PPL meeting. There was a public meeting. about Archibald. And the headline from the Times-Tribune says, quote, PPL acknowledges infrastructure expansion based on proposed data centers. Date April 21st, 2026. The article states, quote, PPL electric utilities acknowledged Tuesday that proposed data centers fueled plans for an Archibald-centric infrastructure project. Officials were initially mum on what motivated the expansion project, but when a reporter pointed out to PPL manager of transmissions, citing Doug Grossman that the five customer facilities denoted on project maps corresponded with proposed data center campuses, he responded, The projects are data centers. PPL Director Communications Dana Burns said the data centers played a big part in creating the need for an increase in electrical service, quote unquote. The article goes on to say, quote, power lines would also extend through parts of Blakely, Jessup, Jefferson Township, and Olyphant, according to PPL. Work would consist of building 12 miles of new power lines, three switch yards, and a substation. And wow, like, so it just it took me back to this YouTube documentary I had seen from something called Wendover. And they were talking about pretty technical stuff about electricity and how AI affects electricity. And I remember them like explaining the harmonic distortions. Yeah. Okay, so I’ll just quote from that video had said, quote, there’s always some harmonic distortion, but there is a threshold that is considered acceptable, 8%. And when a household is near a major data center cluster, research has insisted. indicated that the likelihood that readings exceed that threshold goes up dramatically. This has implications. Your refrigerator, for example, includes a motor to operate its compressor. When the current is not smooth, the fluctuations in power will lead to fluctuations in torque. as it spins around its axis. Meaning in addition to the rotational force it’s intended to create, it’ll also create oscillations as it spins. As these oscillations interact with the motor casing and surrounding components, it creates noise rattling sounds. So that’s to say, AI is making your refrigerator louder. And that noise is more than just annoying. It’s representative of mechanical stress that will lead that motor to die out sooner, spoiling your groceries and mandating a costly, Cumbersome fix The same applies to all the rest of your electronics. The 8% harmonic distortion threshold is set since it’s what normal household appliances can handle without shortening their lifespans. So incrementally and ever so slightly, AI is costing you money by making your electronics wear down faster. Unquote. So that’s on top of the infranoise and the noise pollution and, you know, the diesel generators that’ll be polluting. And of course, you know, the data center people had said, oh, we’re moving away from, we’re moving away from the self-powered. Distinctly, like distinctly they have said that Well, they’re going to bring their own power. Like, as if it’s a good thing, and I see people out on social media all the time, you know, saying, well, they should bring their own power. They should bring their own power. Well, what do you think that means? Yeah, that’s what Governor Josh Shapiro has said. Like, there was a WHYY had a headline, PA Governor Josh Shapiro wants more data centers, but they need to bring their own power. Okay, that was a headline. A headline from Reuters was, from February 2026. Headline, Trump says he has told big tech companies to build their own power plants. So, you know, yes, they’re building their own power plants. What does self-power mean? It means gas turbines on the place. It means diesel generators and how, like... The local data center developer had tried to claim that they were moving away from that. But no, they were planning on putting a pile of diesel generators. Greg Beard has his Bitcoin. place in Carbon County, and that burns tires and coal waste. And they actually get tax subsidies for that. So they’re bringing their own power. They’re not hooked to the grid, but that’s just, they’re polluting the area and creating all this electricity just to print cryptocurrency, just to print cryptocurrency to make Greg Beard and of the other investors in that project, you know, money with essentially funny money and all that goes with the crypto stuff. So right there. And then, so then... In addition to that, like, same day as this article in the Times-Tribune, or maybe the day after. Yeah, maybe it was the day after. Oh, yeah. It was on Earth Day, actually. Wired came out with a news story. The title is, New Gas-Powered Data Centers Could Admit More Greenhouse Gases Than Entire Nations. So that’s your self-powered. That, my friends... Folks, that is what the self-powered is. emitting more greenhouse gases than entire nations. Okay, so that’s what these self-powered, self-bring-your-own-power data centers. Okay, and it said, the subtitle of this article from Wired is, a Wired review of permits for data center projects using natural gas and linked to OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and XAI shows they could emit more than 129 million tons of greenhouse gases per year. Okay, so... That’s what it means when they’re going to bring their own power. Do we really want them to bring their own power? Do you want a gas plant right in your neighborhood? Because that’s what they’re planning on. They’ve been talking about putting a gas plant right down with the data centers right down in the valley, like where the pollution gets trapped and it just lays there sometimes for days. And you have a situation where they’re going to put like a power plant that’s like basically sandwiched between – like, neighborhoods and a park. Like, what are we doing? What are we doing? Like, how is self-powered any better than, no, sorry, no, it’s not any better. Okay, so then, okay, so let me just quote from The article further is, quote, as tech companies race to secure massive power deals to build out hundreds of data centers across this country, these projects represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential climate cost of the AI boom. The infrastructure on this list of large natural gas projects reviewed by Wired is being developed to largely bypass the grid and provide power solely for data centers, a trend known as behind-the-meter power. As data center developers face long waits for connections to traditional utilities and amid mounting public resistance to the possibility of higher energy bills, making their own power is becoming an increasingly popular option. So this is what it means when they’re bringing their own power. And for what? It’s still going to pollute. Like, there’s no such thing. Like, oh, somebody had replied me on, I think it was Blue Sky, and they had said, well, yeah, but they’re just data centers. They’re clean electricity. Clean electricity? Where do you think electricity comes from? They’re planning on diesel generators in some of these places. Oh, my goodness. So, okay. Okay. What’s interesting is, is towards the end of the Wired article, it says, quote, it is unlikely that all of the gas facilities Wired examined will get built. An air permit is not a guarantee of construction. Unquote. Okay, so that’s true. Like, for example, there’s the gas plant is on the fast track. They’re in some kind of Pennsylvania government fast track to get approved, the one in my county. So this gas plant in the middle of a neighborhood... you know, next to a park is on the fast track to get approved. But it’s not a done deal. Like, this is not a done deal. And it can and should be stopped. So, okay, so going on, quote, neither Fermi nor the GW Ranch facility, the two largest emitters on the list have a client yet. Unquote. Okay. Yeah. And this Fermi one is just a major, this Fermi one just sounds like a cluster. And it goes on to talk about turbine shortages and the energy shocks in the Middle East, and then the paragraph ends with, quote, and most of these companies are also racing to build out renewable energy and nuclear as they seek to power their data centers with anything and everything they can get, unquote. All right, okay, so they’re grabbing for all this power. Okay. Oh, and so that brings us to... They’re grabbing for all of this power, right? But it was just last month that we found out that all of the proposed data centers in Archibald, none of them have end users. So, like, it’s not just Fermi and this GW whatever facilities You know, that don’t have a client yet. A lot of these places apparently don’t have a client yet because the water company guy at a meeting
