Podcast Summary: Today, Explained

Episode Title: Data center backlash!
Release Date: December 1, 2025
Hosts: Sean Rameswaram, Noel King
Featured Guests: Miles Bryan (reporter, Today, Explained), Genevieve Boland & Patti Smith (local organizers), Umair Irfan (Vox climate reporter), John McAuliffe (Virginia delegate-elect)

Episode Overview

This episode unpacks the backlash against data centers springing up across the United States: why towns are opposing them, the surprising political dynamics they spark, and how these mega-structures are shaping the national energy conversation. Miles Bryan reports from a Pennsylvania community grappling with a proposed data center, while Umair Irfan discusses how abundant clean energy could reshape both the industry and society.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Industrial Shift: From Steel Mill to Data Center

• Location: Conshohocken, Pennsylvania
• Once a region anchored by steel production, Conshohocken saw its last steel mill shut down—mirroring the broader decline of U.S. manufacturing.
• Miles Bryan: “You know, the next beat here, times change, the economy deindustrialized, the mill lays off a ton of people. In the 70s, Conshohocken becomes more of a white collar office place. And last summer, the steel mill was closed indefinitely.” (03:00)
• Enter: a developer proposing to transform the shuttered mill into a vast data center—a hallmark of the new AI-fueled economy.

2. Why Data Centers? The Sales Pitch

• Data centers promise big construction jobs, minimal lasting job creation, and major tax revenue for towns.
• Developer Brian O’Neill: “The annual revenue of the building I'm proposing is $21 million a year and that's with no traffic, no kids in the school system, nothing but cash flow.” (04:09)
• Most states now offer tax incentives; the country is in a data center boom, deeply tied to AI.

3. The Backlash: Local Concerns and Grassroots Mobilization

• Neighborhood organizers Genevieve Boland & Patti Smith lead opposition, canvassing and creating a Facebook group to mobilize neighbors.
• Core concerns:
  • Quality of life: noise, light pollution, and a preference for community-serving development.
  • Minimal local jobs: After construction, data centers are low on employment.
  • Skyrocketing electricity costs: Residents link rising bills to the proliferation of data centers.
    • Patti Smith: “We are absolutely worried about this and other energy infrastructure increases from data centers driving up our electric bills... it already has been.” (06:50)
• The movement quickly gains support—even sparking conversations during reporting:
  • Neighbor: “We live right down the street, and we don't want this shit to happen, man.” (08:00)

Notable Moment

• Data Center Watch reports that opposition delayed or canceled ~$100 billion in planned projects in just the second quarter of the year. (08:23)

4. Political Impacts: Data Centers Scramble Partisan Lines

• The backlash transcends partisan politics.
• Organizers are frustrated with both Democratic and Republican leaders for supporting data centers.
• Electoral Impact:
  • In Virginia, Democrat John McAuliffe ran against data centers and flipped a Republican district:
    • John McAuliffe: “Every single day that I knocked doors... maybe over 10 of them would be about data centers. ...I don't think I would've won without running in large part on data centers and frustration with them.” (09:41–10:16)
  • Early anti–data center platforms appear in both Republican and Democratic races—e.g., James Fishback in Florida.
• No clear partisan ownership of the issue yet; potential for national movement.

5. Outcome in Conshohocken & Broader Trends

• The result: The local data center project is “paused”—the developer’s application stalled, though not dissolved.
• Both major Pennsylvania politicians (Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, Republican Senator Dave McCormick) are pro–data center, frustrating local activists.
• Genevieve Boland: “Don't leave people like us behind because we have to deal with the day to day impacts of a data center next door. You all don't. And that's what I guess bothers me the most... it doesn't take into account the real lives of everyday, real people.” (11:40)
• The anti–data center movement is energetic and up for grabs, politically.

National Energy Future: Interview with Umair Irfan

1. Abundant Clean Energy: Rethinking Scarcity

• Paradigm Shift: Umair Irfan argues we shouldn’t just ration energy, but aim for generating so much (especially from clean sources) that it pushes prices down and enables new industries.
• Umair Irfan: “If we start to build energy with the notion of having lots more of it... that could actually be a huge game changer.” (16:11)

2. Clean Energy Progress and Data Centers

• Global surge in renewable power: over 90% of new worldwide capacity last year was renewable.
• Batteries and storage help solve intermittency problems of wind and solar.
• Some data centers are already incorporating renewables and batteries, with tech companies (like Microsoft) exploring options like nuclear.

3. Cost, Competition, and Possibilities

• The capitalist scramble for cheap energy: controlling abundant, low-cost electricity is a business edge.
• Clean energy’s business case is growing stronger—even in conservative markets like Texas, where cost trumps environmental regulation.
• Umair Irfan: “In that market, renewable energy is taking off. ...it’s just the fact that it's cheaper and easier to build on a massive scale, and that on its own is helping renewables and clean energy take off in that state.” (22:59)

4. What We Could Do With Cheap Clean Power

• Decrease emissions from food and water production; widespread desalination; carbon removal from air and seawater.
• New farming technologies (vertical farming, hydroponics), smaller environmental footprints.
• If energy cost falls low enough, these become not just possible, but practical.

5. Challenges and Potential Pitfalls

• Social & economic displacement: Energy transition impacts millions employed in fossil fuels.
• Paradox of Abundance: How to profit from electricity if it’s nearly free?
• Risk of wasteful uses: Expanded supply might fuel more data centers or bitcoin miners rather than worthier causes.
  • “Historically we've seen that when we get more energy at our disposal, we don't do good things with it or we don't do the most useful things with it in general.” (24:07)
• Equity: The greatest benefits could go to the world’s least-advantaged—over 600 million people still lack basic electricity.

6. Outlook

• Clean energy progress can slow under hostile administrations but won’t stop due to strong market forces and global trends.
• Optimistic note: more abundant, clean, and affordable energy can be transformative for society and the planet.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “America's hottest club is data centers.” — Host introduction (00:00)
• “The annual revenue of the building I'm proposing is $21 million a year and that's with no traffic, no kids in the school system, nothing but cash flow.” — Developer Brian O’Neill (04:09)
• “We are absolutely worried about this and other energy infrastructure increases from data centers driving up our electric bills. Because it already has been.” — Patti Smith, organizer (06:50)
• “People heard the story and started coming to us.” — Genevieve Boland, organizer (08:09)
• “Every single day that I knocked doors... maybe over 10 of them would be about data centers.” — John McAuliffe, VA delegate-elect (09:41)
• “...Don't leave people like us behind because we have to deal with the day to day impacts of a data center next door. You all don't.” — Genevieve Boland (11:40)
• “If we start to build energy with the notion of having lots more of it... that could actually be a huge game changer.” — Umair Irfan (16:11)
• “Historically we've seen that when we get more energy at our disposal, we don't do good things with it...if you don't have a good use lined up, then again, that will probably just end up going to more data centers.” — Umair Irfan (24:07)

Important Timestamps & Segments

• 00:00–02:07: Introduction, context-setting, and commercial breaks
• 02:07–07:56: Miles Bryan reports on Conshohocken and local resistance
• 08:23–11:06: Grassroots movement and political implications
• 11:06–12:23: Local project outcome and perspectives going forward
• 15:46–26:27: Umair Irfan on the clean energy future, market forces, and possible repercussions
• 26:27–end: Show credits, ads

Takeaways

• The rise of data centers as economic engines is reinvigorating debates around local jobs, environmental costs, and the electricity grid.
• Opposition to data center expansion is cross-partisan and has begun to impact election results.
• Clean, abundant energy could change how society functions—but will require foresight to avoid repeating old mistakes or increasing inequality.
• The conversation around data centers and energy isn’t just technical: it’s about what kind of future—and whose future—we prioritize.

For further reading, visit: vox.com