1: PREVIEW: Data Centers: Demands, Costs, and Impending Backlash Guest: Elizabeth Peek Elizabeth Peek discusses the immense regional demands of data centers, including electricity, water, and real estate. Rising electricity costs nationwide and water scarcit
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 7 October 2025
⏱️ 3 minutes
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Summary
Elizabeth Peek discusses the immense regional demands of data centers, including electricity, water, and real estate. Rising electricity costs nationwide and water scarcity are predicted to cause significant backlash, potentially leading to differentiated pricing for users. States like California and New York face uncompetitive rates due to renewables mandates driving up electricity costs.
Transcript
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| 0:17.9 | Visit sumup.co.uk to learn more. |
| 0:20.8 | This is John Batchel, a conversation with a colleague Elizabeth Peake about data centers, |
| 0:26.3 | about the demand data centers put on the region where they're built, such as the big one being |
| 0:31.3 | built in Memphis, Tennessee. Other parts of the country in Virginia, for example, there's |
| 0:36.9 | 600 of them now. |
| 0:38.8 | What demands? |
| 0:40.2 | Electricity, demand first. |
| 0:42.5 | Water demands second. |
| 0:44.7 | Workforce, educated, demand third. |
| 0:48.1 | Also, more and more real estate taken up by these massive buildings that look like a connection to the 23rd century. |
| 0:56.1 | Data centers and politics, data centers in the market, data centers and your electricity bill, |
| 1:03.6 | here's Liz to comment what we know right now. |
| 1:07.5 | Who's competitive and who's not? |
| 1:09.9 | More of this tonight. |
| 1:11.9 | I have not heard a lot of that, but then a lot of people really haven't confronted it face-to-face. |
| 1:19.0 | I do think there are a couple of things that you referenced that will lead to backlash. |
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