People protest data centers, but they embrace the factories that supply them

Last month, Pamela Griffin and two other residents of Taylor, Texas, took to the stage at a city council meeting to object to the data center project. But later, they sat as council members discussed a proposed technology factory. Griffin has not spoken out against the development. No one did.

A similar contradiction is repeated in communities across the United States. Data centers are facing unprecedented public resistance, with environmental costs a major concern. More of them were needed to fuel the growing appetite for AI, and they became clear bright spots for communities anxious about what automation might mean for them. However, many of the plants being built to supply servers, electrical equipment and other parts to data centers face almost no opposition.

Factories tend to create more jobs and drain fewer natural resources than data centers do, so, with the exception of a few controversial chip manufacturing plants in several states, they have been sailing through local hearings for permits and tax breaks. But experts who track supply chains say the minimal scrutiny of manufacturing projects highlights a potential new strategy for activists fighting data centers and a source of risk for communities that might invest in a short-term boom.

“At some point, people will figure out what the critical plant is that can bring all data centers to their knees, and they will follow suit,” says Andy Tsai, a professor at Santa Clara University who studies global trade and relocation.

Although targeting the supply chain could be a new way to slow data center construction, Griffin says regulators are too spread thin to afford more. So, for now, the door is wide open for manufacturers to increase their presence in the US and fuel the data center market without overwhelming resistance.

“We need to start at the bottom and get these people making these servers, but first we have to get people to understand what these data centers are,” says Griffin. “We need to choose our battles.”

Her focus at last month’s council meeting was to oppose the proposal for a second data center in Taylor, after one was built near her home and she called for it to be stopped. That evening, Griffin and her fellow activists learned that the council would also consider a proposed factory for Taiwanese company Compal. But the site’s potential role in supporting the data center industry was not clear to them.

The Griffin case shows what communities protesting data centers would face if they also considered challenging manufacturing projects: opacity, public perception, and the potential for additional legal battles.

Server farms

City records describe Compal’s intentions as making “servers,” as well as everything from smart home devices to automobile electronics.

It’s an extensive list, but Compal spokeswoman Tina Chang told WIRED that the Taylor plant will be dedicated to the company’s server business. The building is being leased by Compal USA Technology, a subsidiary formed last year for the purpose of expanding Compal’s server product operations in the United States. Another location in nearby Georgetown, Texas, announced at the same time as the Taylor facility, “will create a server service center that supports enterprise and cloud infrastructure needs,” according to the company.

Taylor, which is located near Austin, spent more than a year courting Compal, which considered alternatives globally before choosing the city. A 366,000-square-foot pre-built facility won over the company, which said it was signing a lease worth about $66 million with plans to invest $200 million overall. “They fell in love with the openness,” Ben White, president of the Taylor Economic Development Corporation, told the City Council at the December meeting. “It gave them the flexibility to do what needed to be done.”