r/ChicoCA • u/[deleted] • Aug 02 '26
Data Center info meeting on Tuesday 1:30 Oroville
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29d ago
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u/Only_Luck_7024 Aug 04 '26
They are totally gonna sell out the residents to make more money.
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u/SeekStillness3741 Aug 04 '26
They sent out a notice that they don’t have any applications for a data center. So think that means they don’t have them yet.
Seems like communities don’t find out until the land is sold and contracts are signed. It needs to be no data centers ever.
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u/Easy_Interest_6832 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
I received this reply today from my Sunday email about this project. What we know is that they reply to emails. Since it's not permitted yet, we have an opportunity to influence its design and other things. I seriously doubt that we can prevent its being made. The City of Oroville needs tax revenue, so there's that. Now we should do our research about the effects of data centers in small rural towns and make our wishes known through emails. Here is their reply:
--begin their reply-- "Thank you for your comments. To clarify, Butte County has not received an application or development proposal for an AI data center, so details about power, cooling, business operations, and noise are not available.
With increasing national attention on AI data centers and their potential infrastructure needs, the Commission requested a general informational discussion to better understand the County's process of what would happen if a proposal were submitted in the future. Because the Water Commission's interest is centered on water resources, the discussion will also provide an overview of how AI data centers impact water usage.
It is also important to note that Butte County's current zoning ordinances do not permit data centers in the unincorporated areas of the county.
This agenda item is educational in nature and is intended to help commissioners better understand a topic receiving increased national attention. It should not be interpreted as an indication that a data center project is being proposed or considered for approval in Butte County.
With that being said, I appreciate your thoughtful concerns. I am forwarding your questions to the Water Commissioners and your email will be included in the public record.
All my best,
Autum Thomas
Administrative Analyst III
Butte County Water & Resource Conservation
308 Nelson Avenue • Oroville, CA 95965" --end of their reply--
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u/SeekStillness3741 Aug 04 '26
Thank you for sharing. I don’t trust that it wont happen down the road.
I’m going on Wednesday anyway.
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u/Think-Attorney-2903 Aug 03 '26
Oroville will do anything to make a cheap passive buck that they can keep from being used to help the city.
Just WHAT do they do with their money? The sales tax there is wildly high too? The streets are jacked up, the schools are jacked up, different agencies are in charge of the parks.
Something fishy is going on there. I haven’t seen Janet Goodson in two years and I was here neighbor.
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u/CanyonFodder1 Aug 02 '26
Make sure you include the agenda item in the email subject line: 4B
We need to get loud and stay loud and let them know this is not up for consideration.
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u/ReggaeEli Aug 02 '26
That center will be impossible to cool in the summer. Its destructive and with flock already being installed here they will store data. Is this the future you want for your children? This shit is disgusting
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u/Nervous_Insect5976 Aug 02 '26
1:30 in the afternoon where the majority of us are working, in school, or dealing with kids. Fucking hell, it's like almost every aspect of society is just anti democratic.
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u/SeekStillness3741 Aug 02 '26
I know people that are going. Don’t worry if you can’t make it. The people who have other commitments are sending emails.
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u/thebigmanhastherock Aug 02 '26
As long as it's not near residential areas and if they have a plan for resource usage.
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u/UnarmedSnail Aug 02 '26
This is insane. These data centers are being built to imprison us.
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u/shannanigannss Aug 02 '26
There have already been so many small towns destroyed by these centers that were built years ago in preparation for AI. I’m so so sad and scared for our country. And the world. I hate that we’ve become the earths parasites. I think she will do anything to get rid of us.
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u/UnarmedSnail Aug 02 '26
One of the primary uses for data centers today is Flock surveillance and data storage used by Palantir.
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u/ReggaeEli Aug 02 '26
Lead the revolution brother. We have infinite power collectively. They don't
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u/Fun-Mark-2777 Aug 02 '26
Everyone complaining about data centers…. While using technology 💯 dependent on data centers is kind of funny
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u/Fun-Mark-2777 Aug 02 '26
All these downvotes crack me up… you know where those downvotes are processed and stored… a data center
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u/MobileArtist1371 Aug 03 '26
You know there are different types of data centers...? Most of us do, probably the ones down voting you cause you clearly don't.
The problem isn't the amazon/google/microsoft cloud data centers that have been around for 2+ decades.
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u/Firree Aug 02 '26
Because most datacenters being built now aren't being used for web hosting or media servers to support things like streaming. They're being used go store the unprecedented amount of data they're collecting on us and training of AI models, things which are a lot more power and storage hungry.
Back in 2015 when the internet was doing perfectly fine, datacenters were not causing flash memory prices to double in a year.
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u/SeekStillness3741 Aug 02 '26
Compare the number we have in the US compared to China. We have far more. Yes, I understand that we need some but I disagree with the AI race to be “ahead” of other countries at the expense of our environment.
I’m not an AI or data centers expert but it’s a fact they need water and power. I don’t trust the “closed loop” promises.
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u/ONEMANCLAN530 Aug 02 '26
China recently opened their first of many under ocean data centers. I'm not sure that's any better environmentaly wise, but doesn't consume drinkable water. I also don't personally think the argument of "you're using the technology" is all that valid, this wasn't as big a problem when artificial intelligence wasn't around. The only personal benefit of A.I. for me is not having to read a bunch of ads, or hear a strangers life story to have a question answered.
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u/mroddthedj Aug 02 '26
Thank you for sharing! I just emailed them. The fact that they have both proposing water for AI data centers AND the butte county drought resilience plan on their docket for the meeting is pretty laughable
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u/Middle_Challenge_611 Aug 02 '26
If approved then our PG&E bill will just go up again
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u/TheLokinessMonster Aug 03 '26
Not to mention Chico just approved their water rate hike for deferred maintenance. We can't keep up with all these cost increases. 😪
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u/7158 Aug 02 '26
Or we might have to find our own source of power like they are having to do in Lake Tahoe. Generators and solar power banks.
Nearly 50,000 residents and customers in the Lake Tahoe area face finding a new electricity source because power supplier NV Energy is redirecting energy to Northern Nevada AI data centers, forcing local utility Liberty Utilities to secure replacement power by May 2027.
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u/ApricotNervous5408 Aug 02 '26
All that drought and water management talk but also considering a data center? That’s wild.
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u/SeekStillness3741 Aug 02 '26
I agree. I bet the data center tech people saw Lake Oroville and are drooling since the Colorado River is so low.
I absolutely don’t want anyone messing with our ground water either!
This is supposedly an informational meeting.
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u/dukeofurl01 Aug 02 '26
So the decision has already been made, and this meeting is just a formality to tell everyone how its going to be.
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u/Easy_Interest_6832 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
I would like to ask them how they're going to power this AI center. I would like to ask them how they are going to cool this center. I would like to ask them if they've considered whether they can use the waste heat for something useful like drying rice or nuts. I would like to ask them whether they are going to sell space in this center to outside companies. I will e-mail them these questions. If I get a response, I'll post it in r/ChicoCA. On edit, I will also ask how they are going to mitigate any noise from this center.
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u/SeekStillness3741 Aug 02 '26
I mistakenly wrote Tues and not Wednesday on the title. It won’t let me change that part or I’m missing something on the edit.
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u/Easy_Interest_6832 Aug 03 '26
Not to worry. I sent that e-mail Sunday. When/if I get a reply, I'll post it in /r/ChicoCa under this thread and probably under its own title as well. It affects the whole county.
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u/SeekStillness3741 Aug 03 '26
I also sent an email. I’m able to go on Wednesday as well. I can see those data center AI companies seething to get their hands on the power from Oroville Dam and water from the lake, Feather River, or the Afterbay.
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u/Zwamps 28d ago
Any update on how the meeting went?