Assistant Professor Gabe Schwartzman is leading interdisciplinary research into how data centers are driving energy demands, and the economic, environmental, and societal implications for communities in the South.
With data centers driving increased demand for electricity, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is part of a collaborative interdisciplinary research project into their planning and impact on communities in Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.
Assistant Professor Gabe Schwartzman from the Department of Geography and Sustainability is a co-investigator on a $1 million Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant for a three-year study.
With low energy rates and tax incentives, the southern US has become the fastest-growing area for centers managing data needed in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and a range of other uses.
“There is a boom in data centers being built across the Southeast and Central Appalachia right now, alongside new, mostly fossil fuel energy infrastructure,” said Schwartzman, who studies energy transition and rural development. “TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) alone has proposed nine new methane gas plants and three pipelines since 2020, several of which are already under construction, as well as several advanced nuclear energy projects. So, the question is, what is the relationship between a boom in energy infrastructure and data center energy demand, and what do these developments mean for rural communities?”
The project is designed to understand how to track and monitor data centers’ development, as well as their impact on rural communities.
“One way we’ll be responding to the community needs is to write several reports on energy demands and data centers for specific communities, so that people can understand in detail the ways that these new developments are affecting their utility rates,” he said.
Two associate professors from Emory University are co-principal investigators on the grant, sociocultural anthropologist Kristin Phillips and Jola Ajibade, an environmental and human geographer. UT Assistant Professor Nikki Luke, who studies energy and labor politics, and energy consultant Cathy Kunkel from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis will serve as consultants.
The grant will fund a graduate research assistant at UT for four semesters, and Schwartzman said they would love to work with other faculty on the project. “We invite anyone at the university to be in touch about collaboration and to learn more about research assistance opportunities,” he said.
Investment and Environmental Impact
“As of yet, there are actually relatively few data centers in Central Appalachia, but there is a rapidly growing number of proposals for reusing mine lands for data center sites,” Schwartzman said. “These projects raise the question of whether such investments can bring new sources of income into economically distressed areas, or if the data centers will bring new sources of pollution to areas that already have high levels of environmental impact from mining.”
The project also will study how utilities such as TVA respond to increased energy demand, and the social implications of new energy infrastructure.
By comparing their findings across states, the researchers aim to understand how different policies, regulations, and utility systems shape both the development of data centers and the effects they have on systems and communities.
by Amy Beth Miller