Senators Demand to Know How Much Energy Data Centers Use (wired.com)
- Reference: 0181109172
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/26/1925222/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use
- Source link: https://www.wired.com/story/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use/
> In December, EIA administrator Tristan Abbey said at a roundtable that he expects the EIA "is going to be an essential player in providing objective data and analysis to policymakers" with respect to data centers. The agency announced on Wednesday that it would be conducting a voluntary pilot program to collect energy consumption information from nearly 200 companies operating data centers in Texas, Washington, and Virginia, which will cover "energy sources, electricity consumption, site characteristics, server metrics, and cooling systems."
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> While the senators praise the EIA pilot program, their letter includes several questions about how the agency plans to move forward with more data collection, such as whether or not the energy surveys will be mandatory and whether or not the EIA will collect information on behind-the-meter power. This information will be especially crucial, the senators say, to make sure that big tech companies that signed the agreement at the White House earlier this month [3]pledging that consumers won't bear the costs of data center electricity use will stick to their promises. "Without this data, policymakers, utility companies, and local communities are operating in the dark," the senators write.
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> The EIA mandates that other industries, including oil and gas and manufacturing, provide regular data to the agency; Hawley and Warren assert that the EIA should be able to collect similar information from data centers under the same provision. The provision is broad enough, Peskoe says, that it could absolutely be interpreted to encompass data centers.
Yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [4]announced a bill that would "enact a reasonable pause to the development of AI to ensure the safety of humanity." It calls for a federal moratorium on AI data centers until stronger national safeguards are in place around safety, jobs, privacy, energy costs, and environmental impact.
[1] https://www.wired.com/story/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use/
[2] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27915027-warren-hawley-letter-to-eia-re-data-center-transparency-32526/
[3] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/03/05/0537244/us-tech-firms-pledge-at-white-house-to-bear-costs-of-energy-for-datacenters
[4] https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-ocasio-cortez-announce-ai-data-center-moratorium-act/
Water is what scares me (Score:2)
We can build wind and solar farms or if we put them next to cities we don't care about nuclear power plants so it's at least possible to meet energy demand even if it's unlikely as long as the right wing are in charge since as always who's going to pay for it right?
But you can't magic water out of the sky. Climate change is fucking up the water cycle. So we are in a drought and that is probably going to continue.
Data centers want fresh clean drinkable water and they want to fill it with deadly chemi
I think (Score:2)
That the idea of data centers gobbling up incredible amount of Electricity is a real non-starter. Because at this early time, the end game of AI is likely to use a lot less power. So it's a given AI is here - do more research to make it something sustainable.
Even the idea of restarting old decommissioned nuclear plants like Three Mile Island is silly. The idea of using 1960's nuc technology, managed by profit driven people who will demand that profit over safety is thing one - that's a bit chilling.
Re: (Score:1)
Talk about non-starterz ! The only research you want to do with "data-centers/LLM/*.ai" is ... how much C4 ....'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX' deleted for the obvious national security reasons ....
Ah, I think I understand (Score:1)
The bloviating will continue until they get their kickbacks.
Growing opposition (Score:1)
Bernie Sanders has observed that these data centers aren’t at work trying to find ways to provide jobs for the working class, they are creating technology to replace paying people and increase the bottom line of the billionaire class. Whether you like Bernie or hate him, this observation on data centers resonates across party lines. And then there's the water issue.
Cue Carl Sagan: (Score:3)
"Billions and billions!"