When Microsoft opened a data center in central Mexico last year, nearby residents said power cuts became more frequent. Water outages, which once lasted days, stretched for weeks.
The shortages led to school cancellations and the spread of stomach bugs in the town of Las Cenizas, said Dulce María Nicolás, a resident and mother of two. She has considered moving.
Víctor Bárcenas, who runs a local health clinic, has stitched up children by flashlight. In December, he was unable to give oxygen to a 54-year-old farmer because the power went out. The patient was rushed to a hospital nearly an hour away.
Their experiences are being echoed elsewhere, as an artificial intelligence building boom strains already fragile power and water infrastructures in communities around the world.
The United States has been a primary hub for the data center explosion, with giants like OpenAI, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft pouring hundreds of billions into building massive computing facilities to fuel artificial intelligence. However, this construction boom has been quietly exported worldwide, often with far less public oversight.
As of late June, nearly 60% of the world’s 1,244 largest data centers were located outside the U.S., according to Synergy Research Group. This global footprint is set to expand further, with at least 575 new projects underway by companies like Tencent, Meta, and Alibaba.
These burgeoning data centers, which demand enormous quantities of electricity for computing and significant water for cooling, have directly caused or worsened critical resource shortages. A New York Times investigation found these issues extending beyond Mexico to over a dozen other nations.
Ireland sees more than 20% of its national electricity devoured by data centers. In Chile, vital aquifers face severe depletion. South Africa’s already frequent blackouts are intensified by the strain these facilities place on the national grid. Brazil, Britain, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Spain report similar alarming trends.
A critical problem is the pervasive lack of transparency. Tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft frequently operate through complex networks of subsidiaries and service providers, obscuring their direct involvement and the true extent of their resource consumption.
Governments, eager to establish an AI presence, often sweeten deals with cheap land, generous tax breaks, and guaranteed resource access, while simultaneously adopting a lax approach to environmental regulation and public disclosure.
Tech companies, driven by the race to develop advanced AI models and achieve “superintelligence” (AI surpassing human intellect), assert that this expansion brings economic benefits through job creation and investment. They also claim to be mitigating their environmental impact by developing self-generated energy solutions and water recycling.
Microsoft stated it possesses no evidence that its data center in central Mexico has impacted local power or water. The company acknowledges the region’s electrical instability and claims minimal water usage, with an annual power demand of up to 12.6 megawatts – enough to power roughly 50,000 Mexican homes.
“We thoroughly investigated and found no indication that our data centers have caused blackouts or water shortages in the area,” affirmed Bowen Wallace, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for data centers in the Americas. He added, “We are committed to always prioritizing the community’s fundamental needs.”
Alejandro Sterling, the director of industrial development for central Mexico, conceded that the existing electrical grid infrastructure has been problematic, leading to blackouts. “Our capacity has been stretched beyond its limits,” he noted.
While directly attributing shortages solely to any single data center remains challenging, experts agree that establishing these facilities in regions already burdened by unstable power grids and water stress inevitably exacerbates these fragile systems, leading to potential widespread disruptions.
Globally, a growing chorus of activists, residents, and environmental groups are uniting against data center expansion. Some actively attempt to halt projects, while others advocate for stricter oversight and greater transparency.
Irish authorities have already restricted new data centers in Dublin due to “significant risk” to power stability. Following protests in Chile, Google abandoned plans for a center that threatened water reserves. The Netherlands has also paused some data center construction due to environmental worries.
“Data centers represent the intersection of environmental and social challenges,” remarked Rosi Leonard, an environmentalist with Friends of the Earth Ireland. “Despite the pervasive narrative that these centers are essential for prosperity, we are facing a genuine crisis.”
Despite the escalating concerns, there’s little indication of a slowdown. UBS projects global spending on data centers to reach $375 billion this year and a staggering $500 billion in 2026.
Mexican residents are demanding that data center development be accompanied by substantial community investment. In La Esperanza, a village near Microsoft’s facility, a hepatitis outbreak occurred this summer. Water shortages prevented residents from maintaining basic hygiene, leading to the rapid spread of the disease and affecting approximately 50 people, according to Dr. Bárcenas.
“I hold the state governments accountable for their failure to secure community support,” he asserted. “Microsoft’s multi-million dollar project brought no benefit to us, the local populace.”
The Rising Tide of Environmental Activism
In Ennis, western Ireland, 150 acres of picturesque open fields, once home to roaming horses, became the target of a developer’s four-billion-euro plan for an unnamed tech company’s data center five years ago. This ambitious project has since faced fierce resistance, with environmental groups and local residents filing numerous legal objections and appeals to halt its progress.
Only a few years prior, such a proposal would likely have been swiftly approved. For two decades, Ireland actively courted tech giants; Apple, Google, Microsoft, and TikTok all established their European headquarters there. Approximately 120 data centers now dot the landscape, particularly around Dublin. Projections indicate that data centers will consume a third of Ireland’s electricity within the next few years, a significant jump from just 5% in 2015.
However, Ireland’s once-welcoming stance has dramatically shifted. The nation now stands as a stark global example of the widespread opposition mounting against data center proliferation.
The movement against these facilities began to gain traction in 2021 when People Before Profit, an environmental socialist group, disrupted a data center conference in Dublin. Simultaneously, locals in County Clare, home to Ennis, initiated challenges against a proposed data center slated for agricultural land.
Since then, the protest movement has flourished, drawing concern from prominent figures like best-selling author Sally Rooney and countless residents. Notably, last year saw the election of Darragh Adelaide, an activist from People Before Profit, to the South Dublin County Council, which subsequently rejected a data center application from Google.
Western Ireland experienced widespread power outages during January storms, intensifying public debate over the national grid’s breaking point.
“The grid is under strain for a clear reason: the overwhelming number of data centers,” stated Sinéad Sheehan, an activist who spearheaded a petition against the Ennis project, gathering over a thousand signatures.
Ireland’s situation serves as a stark warning. By 2035, global data centers are forecast to consume as much electricity as India, the world’s most populous nation, according to the International Energy Agency. Furthermore, a single data center can guzzle over 500,000 gallons of water daily, a volume comparable to an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
In a concerted effort, environmental organizations globally are actively sharing strategies, tactics, and resources to counter this trend.
In Spain, environmentalist Aurora Gómez Delgado, who protested a Meta facility near Madrid in 2023, was overwhelmed by international support. She now coordinates with dozens of groups globally. Her organization, “Tu Nube Seca Mi Río” (Your Cloud Dries Up My River), even inspired a similar group in France.
“There isn’t a place left without a data center,” Ms. Gómez Delgado emphasized. “We are highly coordinated, in constant communication with each other.”
She and her colleagues acknowledge the challenging battle ahead. Despite restrictions on data centers near Dublin, Irish authorities are still attempting to fast-track approvals for new sites in rural counties such as Clare and Mayo, with significant backing from the business community for continued development.
While Irish environmentalists have faced setbacks in court appeals against data center construction, they remain hopeful their persistent actions will deter further corporate expansion. On September 30, approximately 50 individuals gathered outside Dublin’s Parliament to protest the proliferation of these energy-intensive facilities.
The Ennis data center project still awaits a final legal appeal. Even if approved, its future remains uncertain as Amazon, the original backer, recently withdrew, leaving the local developer to seek a new tech partner.
“We are committed to being a responsible neighbor, and we dedicate significant time to understanding and addressing community needs and priorities,” the company declared.
A Climate of Welcome: Governments Woo Tech Giants
Within a modern office tower in Querétaro, central Mexico—adorned with solar panels and a striking 3-D LED screen—a key official championing the country’s emergence as a data center hub openly asserted that disruptions to power and water are simply the cost of progress.
“These are ‘happy problems,’” declared Mr. Sterling, Querétaro’s director of industrial development, referring to the power and water issues in a region dense with Mexico’s 110 data centers. He clarified, “Not happy for those suffering, but indicative of the area’s development.”
This sentiment, often expressed with more subtlety, resonates among officials globally eager to attract tech investment. Brazil is introducing new tax incentives, while Malaysia has designated an industrial zone to draw in Chinese and Silicon Valley companies. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia even engaged in diplomatic efforts to secure support for acquiring essential AI chips. Meanwhile, the European Union has pledged billions for new regional data centers.
Darragh O’Brien, Ireland’s Minister for Climate, Energy, and Environment, observed that data center construction is increasingly shifting towards nations offering the most favorable policies.
“A cornerstone of our industrial strategy is to lead in new technologies and data,” he affirmed.
According to Ana Valdivia, an Oxford University lecturer researching data center development, global government support has enabled tech firms to build with minimal accountability. Existing environmental regulations are rarely tailored for data centers, and companies frequently insist on government secrecy.
In Mexico, Mr. Sterling outlined an ambitious plan to quadruple data center electricity consumption to 1.5 gigawatts over the next five years—equivalent to powering 1.25 million American homes. He revealed that non-disclosure agreements with tech companies were essential to securing these deals, compelling him to withhold information from both local communities and Mexico’s national electricity utility.
“I signed that NDA as a public service,” he stated.
Operators of these projects frequently conceal their identities through subsidiaries or third-party contractors. For instance, in Mexico, a Microsoft data center is managed by Ascenty, a Latin American data center firm. In Ireland, the proposed Amazon data center was developed by Art Data Centres.
Representatives from these companies and government officials maintain that innovative technologies, such as water-recycling cooling systems, are effectively addressing the resource challenges.
Data centers “use a lot of water, they don’t waste a lot of water,” Mr. Sterling claimed.
Teresa Roldán, an activist in Mexico, expressed strong skepticism regarding Querétaro’s new proposal to recycle sewage for public drinking water. She noted that while the government claims the plan will benefit both citizens and industry, data center companies already tap directly into groundwater. Consequently, residents would be left with filtered wastewater.
“They Have All The Power”: A Community’s Cry
Microsoft’s colossal data center complex dominates a hill in central Mexico’s mesquite plains, towering over 800 feet north of Mexico City.
This prime land, historically used by local and Indigenous communities for grazing animals at a natural spring, is now fenced off. Drone footage reveals a new reservoir within its boundaries, surrounded by freshly disturbed earth.
Data centers began appearing in Querétaro approximately five years ago, attracted by its strategic proximity to the United States, its relative safety from drug-related violence, and a local government keen to embrace multinational corporations.
Microsoft was the first to arrive, quickly followed by Amazon and Google. Before long, industrial parks throughout the region hummed with constant construction activity.
According to over a dozen local residents, the impoverished small towns in the area, already grappling with inadequate basic services, started facing prolonged water shortages and more frequent blackouts.
“Patients with kidney failure depend on machines for treatment,” explained Manuel Rodríguez, a local government representative. “Diabetics need their medication refrigerated. These outages are a matter of life and death.”
Mexico’s national power company attributed recent outages to natural causes like lightning strikes and unexpected incidents involving stray animals.
The power and water disruptions have severely impacted residents financially. In Viborillas, a town close to the data centers, Elizabeth Sánchez and her neighbors started enduring water outages in June 2024 and now collectively pay a $60 fee for private water truck deliveries.
Ms. Sánchez, a 39-year-old homemaker, has repeatedly been forced to discard spoiled food due to power cuts. A recent blackout not only ruined her refrigerator but also fried her daughter’s computer.
“We can’t keep up, so we adapt,” Ms. Sánchez lamented, noting that a part-time job as a courier helps to offset the rising expenses.
Dulce María Nicolás, a 30-year-old mother of two and convenience store owner in Las Cenizas, recounted how power outages twice forced her to discard spoiled food from her refrigerator this past summer. Extended water cuts have also compelled her to purchase additional jugs for water storage.
“It’s a double burden,” she explained. Her children have suffered from stomach illnesses due to inadequate dishwashing, and school closures have occurred when toilets became unusable.
For her children, particularly her 11-year-old, the electricity outages were most distressing because they meant losing access to their phones. “Technology is all he focuses on,” she observed.
Ms. Nicolás pointed to Microsoft’s data center complex as the likely cause, noting that the problems began soon after it became operational. “They consume all the electricity,” she stated, referring to the tech company. “I’m left with absolutely nothing.”
Selam Gebrekidan also contributed to this report from Hong Kong.