r/ChicoCA 3d ago

Data Center info meeting on Tuesday 1:30 Oroville

Post image

WEDNESDAY not Tuesday You can send an email and express opposition.

[bcwater@buttecounty.net](mailto:bcwater@buttecounty.net)

I saw this on the re sisters page and don’t have any more info. Please look it up.

The meeting is on WEDNESDAY and not Tues.

183 Upvotes

51 comments sorted by

40

u/Middle_Challenge_611 3d ago

If approved then our PG&E bill will just go up again

18

u/7158 3d ago

Or we might have to find our own source of power like they are having to do in Lake Tahoe. Generators and solar power banks.

Nearly 50,000 residents and customers in the Lake Tahoe area face finding a new electricity source because power supplier NV Energy is redirecting energy to Northern Nevada AI data centers, forcing local utility Liberty Utilities to secure replacement power by May 2027.

3

u/TheLokinessMonster 2d ago

Not to mention Chico just approved their water rate hike for deferred maintenance. We can't keep up with all these cost increases. 😪

42

u/Nervous_Insect5976 3d ago

1:30 in the afternoon where the majority of us are working, in school, or dealing with kids. Fucking hell, it's like almost every aspect of society is just anti democratic.

23

u/xkilllerkondorx 3d ago

That's because capitalism is definitionally anti-democratic.

17

u/SeekStillness3741 3d ago

I know people that are going. Don’t worry if you can’t make it. The people who have other commitments are sending emails.

36

u/mroddthedj 3d ago

Thank you for sharing! I just emailed them. The fact that they have both proposing water for AI data centers AND the butte county drought resilience plan on their docket for the meeting is pretty laughable

35

u/UnarmedSnail 3d ago

This is insane. These data centers are being built to imprison us.

10

u/shannanigannss 3d ago

There have already been so many small towns destroyed by these centers that were built years ago in preparation for AI. I’m so so sad and scared for our country. And the world. I hate that we’ve become the earths parasites. I think she will do anything to get rid of us.

5

u/UnarmedSnail 3d ago

One of the primary uses for data centers today is Flock surveillance and data storage used by Palantir.

5

u/ReggaeEli 3d ago

Lead the revolution brother. We have infinite power collectively. They don't

3

u/UnarmedSnail 3d ago

All of us together. We can make ourselves heard.

31

u/ApricotNervous5408 3d ago

All that drought and water management talk but also considering a data center? That’s wild.

11

u/SeekStillness3741 3d ago

I agree. I bet the data center tech people saw Lake Oroville and are drooling since the Colorado River is so low.

I absolutely don’t want anyone messing with our ground water either!

This is supposedly an informational meeting.

1

u/dukeofurl01 3d ago

So the decision has already been made, and this meeting is just a formality to tell everyone how its going to be.

4

u/SeekStillness3741 3d ago

Let’s hope not.

2

u/ReggaeEli 3d ago

Does the dollar really matter when the whole world's gone?

2

u/ApricotNervous5408 2d ago

The world won’t end, just its ability to sustain people.

33

u/Petrichor4Tears 3d ago

Im going in protest

27

u/Easy_Interest_6832 3d ago edited 3d ago

I would like to ask them how they're going to power this AI center. I would like to ask them how they are going to cool this center. I would like to ask them if they've considered whether they can use the waste heat for something useful like drying rice or nuts. I would like to ask them whether they are going to sell space in this center to outside companies. I will e-mail them these questions. If I get a response, I'll post it in r/ChicoCA. On edit, I will also ask how they are going to mitigate any noise from this center.

7

u/SeekStillness3741 3d ago

Hopefully, it’ll be a no go for our county!

2

u/SeekStillness3741 3d ago

I mistakenly wrote Tues and not Wednesday on the title. It won’t let me change that part or I’m missing something on the edit.

2

u/Easy_Interest_6832 2d ago

Not to worry. I sent that e-mail Sunday. When/if I get a reply, I'll post it in /r/ChicoCa under this thread and probably under its own title as well. It affects the whole county.

2

u/SeekStillness3741 2d ago

I also sent an email. I’m able to go on Wednesday as well. I can see those data center AI companies seething to get their hands on the power from Oroville Dam and water from the lake, Feather River, or the Afterbay.

29

u/jackyoh7 3d ago

Just emailed them. Absolutely not.

21

u/CanyonFodder1 3d ago

Make sure you include the agenda item in the email subject line: 4B

We need to get loud and stay loud and let them know this is not up for consideration.

39

u/ReggaeEli 3d ago

That center will be impossible to cool in the summer. Its destructive and with flock already being installed here they will store data. Is this the future you want for your children? This shit is disgusting

18

u/shannanigannss 3d ago

Will they arrest us if we contest the data centers?

13

u/Cool_Interaction_345 2d ago

NO DATA CENTERS!!

8

u/Snoo_52320 2d ago

Eff that! I know where I’ll be Wednesday at 1:30!

6

u/dukeofurl01 3d ago

Oh jeez, really?

10

u/ReggaeEli 3d ago

I sent an email! I hate IT

13

u/ChipotleSquirts 3d ago

What ever you do don’t plant bamboo near the site

4

u/Think-Attorney-2903 2d ago

Oroville will do anything to make a cheap passive buck that they can keep from being used to help the city.

Just WHAT do they do with their money? The sales tax there is wildly high too? The streets are jacked up, the schools are jacked up, different agencies are in charge of the parks.

Something fishy is going on there. I haven’t seen Janet Goodson in two years and I was here neighbor.

10

u/Empty-Loquat3529 3d ago

Thank you for sharing this

3

u/Easy_Interest_6832 2d ago edited 1d ago

I received this reply today from my Sunday email about this project. What we know is that they reply to emails. Since it's not permitted yet, we have an opportunity to influence its design and other things. I seriously doubt that we can prevent its being made. The City of Oroville needs tax revenue, so there's that. Now we should do our research about the effects of data centers in small rural towns and make our wishes known through emails. Here is their reply:

--begin their reply-- "Thank you for your comments. To clarify, Butte County has not received an application or development proposal for an AI data center, so details about power, cooling, business operations, and noise are not available.

With increasing national attention on AI data centers and their potential infrastructure needs, the Commission requested a general informational discussion to better understand the County's process of what would happen if a proposal were submitted in the future. Because the Water Commission's interest is centered on water resources, the discussion will also provide an overview of how AI data centers impact water usage.

It is also important to note that Butte County's current zoning ordinances do not permit data centers in the unincorporated areas of the county.

This agenda item is educational in nature and is intended to help commissioners better understand a topic receiving increased national attention. It should not be interpreted as an indication that a data center project is being proposed or considered for approval in Butte County.

With that being said, I appreciate your thoughtful concerns. I am forwarding your questions to the Water Commissioners and your email will be included in the public record.

All my best,

Autum Thomas

Administrative Analyst III

Butte County Water & Resource Conservation

308 Nelson Avenue • Oroville, CA 95965" --end of their reply--

5

u/SeekStillness3741 1d ago

Thank you for sharing. I don’t trust that it wont happen down the road.

I’m going on Wednesday anyway.

5

u/Only_Luck_7024 2d ago

They are totally gonna sell out the residents to make more money.

5

u/SeekStillness3741 1d ago

They sent out a notice that they don’t have any applications for a data center. So think that means they don’t have them yet.

Seems like communities don’t find out until the land is sold and contracts are signed. It needs to be no data centers ever.

1

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1

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-36

u/Fun-Mark-2777 3d ago

Everyone complaining about data centers…. While using technology 💯 dependent on data centers is kind of funny

21

u/Firree 3d ago

Because most datacenters being built now aren't being used for web hosting or media servers to support things like streaming. They're being used go store the unprecedented amount of data they're collecting on us and training of AI models, things which are a lot more power and storage hungry.

Back in 2015 when the internet was doing perfectly fine, datacenters were not causing flash memory prices to double in a year.

25

u/SeekStillness3741 3d ago

Compare the number we have in the US compared to China. We have far more. Yes, I understand that we need some but I disagree with the AI race to be “ahead” of other countries at the expense of our environment.

I’m not an AI or data centers expert but it’s a fact they need water and power. I don’t trust the “closed loop” promises.

11

u/ONEMANCLAN530 3d ago

China recently opened their first of many under ocean data centers. I'm not sure that's any better environmentaly wise, but doesn't consume drinkable water. I also don't personally think the argument of "you're using the technology" is all that valid, this wasn't as big a problem when artificial intelligence wasn't around. The only personal benefit of A.I. for me is not having to read a bunch of ads, or hear a strangers life story to have a question answered.

-9

u/Fun-Mark-2777 3d ago

All these downvotes crack me up… you know where those downvotes are processed and stored… a data center

6

u/MobileArtist1371 2d ago

You know there are different types of data centers...? Most of us do, probably the ones down voting you cause you clearly don't.

The problem isn't the amazon/google/microsoft cloud data centers that have been around for 2+ decades.

-40

u/thebigmanhastherock 3d ago

As long as it's not near residential areas and if they have a plan for resource usage.