Amid the deepening trade conflict between Canada and the United States, there does appear to be one point of political agreement between the two countries: Communities and the wider public on both sides of the border don’t like the idea of hosting ‘hyperscale’ data centres to support growing applications of artificial intelligence (AI).

There has been a wave of refusals from local governments, utilities and utility regulators to approve proposals for large new data centres across the United States and Canada. Many local governments are adopting ‘holding’ or temporary moratorium bylaws against new proposals while they consider their implications. 

A growing number of US states are doing the same thing. These decisions have been made in the face of, at times, intense pressure from federal, provincial and other state governments to facilitate the development of AI Infrastructure.

Multiple factors underlie the local responses to proposals for large data centres. These range from concerns over the immediate impacts of proposed facilities on land-use and local energy and water supplies to wider underlying questions around the economic, social and political implications of the rapid growth of AI.

In energy terms, AI can be seen as a double-sided technology. It could be instrumental in the development of more sustainable energy systems. This may especially be the case with what are termed distributed energy resources. DERs involve networking........

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