Are data centers really America’s new public enemy—or are they the hidden infrastructure powering smartphones, cloud computing, emergency communications, artificial intelligence, and modern business? This concise, fact-driven book challenges the headlines by examining what data centers actually cost communities, what benefits they provide, and which safeguards make them work responsibly.

Using Santa Clara, California, and Microsoft’s long-established data-center operations in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as detailed case studies, the book explores the real-world impact of hyperscale data centers, AI infrastructure, cloud computing facilities, electric-grid demand, water use, taxes, jobs, noise, cooling systems, renewable energy, and local development.

In Santa Clara, listeners hear how a municipally owned utility, Silicon Valley Power, industrial zoning, recycled-water systems, and carbon-neutral requirements can help a city host a major concentration of digital infrastructure while still delivering comparatively low residential electricity rates and significant General Fund revenue. The book also addresses limits: grid capacity, backup generators, relatively few permanent jobs, land use, and neighborhood concerns.

Cheyenne offers a different model. Microsoft’s data centers benefit from a cool climate, outside-air cooling, closed-loop water systems, and a utility tariff designed to prevent ordinary ratepayers from carrying the cost of major infrastructure upgrades.