Data Centers, Digital Access, and Democratic Trust: A Public Administration Perspective
Introduction: A New Infrastructure of Power
Across the United States, vast warehouses filled with servers are being built to power the tools of modern life. These data centers support everything from hospital records to online classrooms, from local government services to the smartphones in our pockets. They are, in many ways, the invisible lifeline of the digital age.
Yet, for communities living in the shadow of these developments, the experience is more complex. Alongside promises of jobs and economic revenue come fears of water shortages, rising electricity costs, and environmental stress. For public administrators and mission-driven leaders, the challenge is not to deny these fears, but to govern in ways that build trust while balancing technological necessity with community well-being.
The Hidden Costs: Water, Noise, and Energy
The first concern many residents raise is water. Research shows that a single medium-sized data center can consume more than 110 million gallons annually, equal to the use of about 1,000 households. Larger facilities may consume as much as 1.8 billion gallons per year (Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2025). For towns already facing scarcity, this is not statistical; it is the lived anxiety of parents wondering if clean water will remain reliable for their families.
Noise follows close behind. Communities in Northern Virginia describe the constant hum of cooling systems as if living “beside an airport runway that never clears” (Ngata et al., 2025). Studies link chronic noise exposure to hypertension, stress, and disrupted sleep patterns (Mitchell et al., 2022). For affected families, these facilities are not abstract infrastructure; they are the backdrop to every restless night and every morning of fatigue.
Energy is another pressure point. Data centers already account for more than 11% of Oregon’s electricity consumption and over 7% in Arizona, with similar trajectories nationwide (Stanford University, 2025). For residents, this raises fears of rising rates, brownouts, or continued dependence on fossil fuels.
Bridging or Deepening the Digital Divide?
Proponents argue that data centers expand digital access by enabling new services and lowering latency. Indeed, edge data centers can bring computing power closer to underserved communities, making telehealth, remote work, and online education more viable (Martin & Dogar, 2023). For rural areas, the potential is real: students with stable video connections, patients seeing doctors online without traveling hours, and small businesses accessing markets beyond their towns.
Yet the benefits are not guaranteed. Without intentional policy, these centers often locate in affluent or strategically advantageous areas, reinforcing the very divide they are meant to close. Research shows that edge infrastructure frequently favors urban centers, leaving marginalized populations still disconnected (Martin & Dogar, 2023). As Hollimon (2025) argues, true digital equity is not just about infrastructure but about access, affordability, and adequacy. Without these, even the best technology widens inequity.
Trust, Accountability, and the Social Contract
Public trust is the currency of democracy. When residents feel that leaders trade away water, peace, and health without transparency, trust is broken, even if long-term economic benefits exist. Sanders (2021) underscores that internet access is increasingly viewed as a human right, and when public leaders fail to align technological expansion with human needs, they erode legitimacy.
This is why governance matters. Strong agreements such as Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) can ensure that revenue from data centers funds local schools, health clinics, and workforce training. Sustainability commitments, such as closed-loop cooling systems or renewable energy integration, can reduce environmental strain (Ewim et al., 2023). Transparency in negotiations allows citizens to see not only the benefits promised but also the safeguards enforced.
The Human Experience Behind the Numbers
Behind every statistic is a community of lived experiences. A data center that consumes billions of gallons of water is not just a headline; it is a grandmother worried about future shortages. Chronic noise is not only decibels measured, but it is also a child struggling to sleep before school. Rising electricity demand is not only a concern, but also working parents wondering whether the next bill will strain the family budget.
Conversely, when handled with foresight, data centers can mean hope. They can mean a rural teenager finally joining a virtual classroom without interruption, or a patient accessing a doctor remotely, or a small nonprofit expanding its digital reach. These moments are the essence of why public administration matters: to ensure technology serves people, not the other way around.
Conclusion: Leadership as Stewardship
The future of data centers is not a question of whether they will exist; they are already here. The true question is whether they will embody public value or perpetuate inequity.
For public administrators, business relationship managers, and mission-driven leaders, the responsibility is clear: safeguard community resources, negotiate for tangible public benefits, and embed trust into every agreement. Only then can these centers of computation also become centers of hope, closing divides rather than deepening them, and strengthening democracy rather than straining it.
References
Environmental and Energy Study Institute. (2025, June 25). Data centers and water consumption. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption
Ewim, D. R., Ninduwezuor-Ehiobu, N., & Egbokhaebho, B. A. (2023). Impact of data centers on climate change: A review of energy-efficient strategies. The Journal of Engineering and Exact Sciences, 9(6), 16397-01e. https://doi.org/10.18540/jcecvl9iss6pp16397-01e
Hollimon, A. (2025). Bridging the digital divide: Perspectives on access, adequacy, affordability, and acceptability. Journal of Digital Equity Studies, 12(1), 44–63. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-01234-9
Martin, N., & Dogar, F. (2023). Measuring latency reduction and the digital divide of cloud edge datacenters. arXiv Preprint. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2304.05481
Mitchell, R., Smith, C., & Yu, L. (2022). Chronic noise exposure and public health outcomes: A systematic review. Journal of Environmental Health, 84(7), 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2022.2034971
Ngata, W., Bashir, N., Westerlaken, M., & Olivetti, E. (2025). The cloud next door: Investigating the environmental and socioeconomic strain of data centers on local communities. Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS). https://doi.org/10.1145/3715335.3736324
Sanders, C. K. (2021). The digital divide is a human rights issue. Frontiers in Sociology, 6, 685. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.685
Stanford University. (2025). Thirsty for power and water: AI-crunching data centers sprout across the West. And the West. https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/thirsty-for-power-and-water-ai-crunching-data-centers-sprout-across-the-west