Colorado is a desert. The state relies on snow melt from the Rockies for the bulk of its water supply. Despite what the governor implies, AI doesn’t produce water as a byproduct. It doesn’t even produce snow.Polis: But we're trying to attract any kind of industrial activity… including data centers that can put a downward pressure on electric utility rates from consumers…. Yes, some of them, absolutely, could help bring down rates and meet our water needs pic.twitter.com/BEeXh29Mp5
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 19, 2026
And AI centers that produce their own electricity, lower consumer rates how, exactly? Isn’t that like saying rooftop solar panels make more electricity available to everyone else, and that supply lowers prices? Anybody who sold solar panels that way would be guilty of fraud. 🤔
Similarly, much of Texas relies on aquifers for water, aquifers which are not replenishing as fast as urban areas and agriculture are taking water out. But AI is necessary because….reasons.
Trickle down economics: the owners of AI get the oats; the residents of the arid West get what trickles down from the back end of the horse. In this case, whatever trickle of water is left behind.
At some point we have to approach the idea that *so* much of our lives- this blog, its comments, my online banking and that neat little mapping function in my brother's new car, actually lives in a "data center" somewhere and we have to make some distinctions and set some priorities. My personal take is "information" > "AI" > "cryptocurrency mining" but even that isn't as simple as I'd like it to be.
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