It’s time for Grantville to say yes to data centers and to innovation

My primary responsibility as mayor is to ensure that the city of Grantville remains a place where families can afford to live and thrive.

I am always looking for opportunities to improve our town and the lives of the people who live here. Frankly, I have grown tired of the noise surrounding one of the greatest economic engines available to us.

We need to stop talking about data centers as if they are a burden and start recognizing them for what they truly are: technology campuses.

A technology campus is a hub of innovation and technology can bring new jobs, make energy prices more affordable for our residents, strengthen our energy grid and improve quality of life for generations to come.

The most immediate impact involves our workforce. A technology campus can bring dozens of high-paying, stable positions to our town. This includes skilled technicians and electricians who build this infrastructure and additional maintenance and security teams that keep it running.

Furthermore, these campuses act as magnets. When a major tech anchor moves in, other industries follow. This helps to diversify our economy and fund our future for generations.

Residents should come first in power needs

Let’s also talk about the impact you could see in your own utility bills.

Technology campuses work to strengthen the local energy grids in their communities and Grantville would be no different.

There is a persistent myth that these facilities strain the system, but the reality is exactly the opposite.

Because these campuses require significant power, the providers are forced to invest heavily in the local grid. They use the latest technology to modernize our infrastructure at no cost to the city.

Companies like Google have already added high-tech, grid-responsive capabilities to their facilities. They can dial back their power usage in real-time during peak hours or times when residents or businesses need prioritized support. This ensures the residents of Grantville always come first.

Richard Proctor is mayor of Grantville, Georgia. (Courtesy of Mayor Richard Proctor)

Let’s also talk about the impact you could see in your own utility bills.

Technology campuses work to strengthen the local energy grids in their communities and Grantville would be no different.

There is a persistent myth that these facilities strain the system, but the reality is exactly the opposite.

Because these campuses require significant power, the providers are forced to invest heavily in the local grid. They use the latest technology to modernize our infrastructure at no cost to the city.

Companies like Google have already added high-tech, grid-responsive capabilities to their facilities. They can dial back their power usage in real-time during peak hours or times when residents or businesses need prioritized support. This ensures the residents of Grantville always come first.

Furthermore, the addition of a technology campus means that fixed costs would be spread across a larger population, so individual rates for energy bills could actually see a decrease.

As a result, the town of Grantville could have more affordable and more reliable electricity simply by saying yes to innovation.

Technology campus will build future of city

The community-wide benefits are where the math becomes undeniable. I look to Loudon County, Virginia, as an example. Since Amazon began its investment there in 2006, the county now receives hundreds of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue.

Grantville has the same opportunity to achieve this kind of lasting community improvements and financial benefits. If we build these partnerships correctly, we secure the revenue to modernize our town and the power to lead the next generation of technology.

Some might call the pushback against these data center projects “caution,” but I call it nonsense.