America is experiencing a significant transformation due to the demand for computer processing to support AI. Tech companies are constructing large data centers filled with power-intensive equipment. Locations like Racine County, Wis., Taylor County, Texas, Maricopa County, Ariz., and others are seeing data center developments.

Currently, the country hosts nearly 100 hyperscale data centers, requiring at least 100 megawatts to function at peak, powering around 80,000 homes. Another 120 are under construction, and 460 more are in the planning stages as reported by Cleanview, a company focused on data center development. About 40% of these centers were developed on pre-existing land while others have taken over areas once used for farming, forests, and shrubland.

David Adams, a professor at California State University at Fullerton, notes that these facilities are predominantly located in affluent metropolitan and urban regions due to access to reliable power and fast internet. However, new centers designed to support AI need more electricity, leading to construction shifts toward rural areas where costs are lower but still close to internet lines.

To mitigate strain on the electric grid, some centers include their power generation systems, partly to address local criticisms regarding increased electricity costs for residents. This requires more expansive sites. SpaceX, owned by Musk and merged with xAI, exemplifies this with its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis, utilizing battery rows to stabilize power during high demand. Currently, this center operates using temporary gas turbines, which pollute more than grid power, leading to protests from neighboring residents affected by emissions from on-site generators.

Data centers have been smaller, often a single building in urban locations. Adams explains that hyperscalers now begin with one building and expand to several. Meta’s Hyperion data center campus in rural Louisiana will be larger than Colossus 2 — even surpassing Manhattan’s Central Park in size. If the planned data centers are completed, Hyperion would only rank fifth in square footage by 2030.