Indianapolis residents celebrate as they defeat Google's $1 billion grand plan.
Across the US, communities are increasingly finding themselves in unexpected battles with some of the world's largest technology companies.
These corporations have been targeting towns and cities for massive infrastructure projects that promise economic benefits but often come with notable downsides for local residents.
Now, one community recently scored a victory against exactly this kind of corporate expansion. After major opposition from residents, Google has cancelled plans to build a $1 billion data centre in Franklin Township, Indianapolis.
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According to Futurism, the proposed facility would have occupied over 460 acres, roughly the size of 350 football fields.
The project would have required rezoning the area from its current designation, fundamentally changing the community's character.
It's unclear whether Google intended to use the data centre for AI processing, cloud computing services, or another purpose, as the company never fully disclosed its plans.
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The main concern from residents was the amount of electricity required by the company's computing power, as this would've driven up electricity prices in the surrounding areas. This goes for many other communities across the US and worldwide, where data centres have been popping up for AI, online commerce, and cryptocurrency mining.
The extraordinary electricity consumption translates directly into increased pollution and carbon emissions, except in rare cases where the data centre includes its own dedicated clean energy solution (which Google's proposal seemingly didn't).
Furthermore, most data centres draw enormous quantities of fresh water to cool their servers, often requiring millions of gallons per day in larger facilities.
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When a meeting was scheduled with the Indianapolis City-County Council to discuss rezoning the area to permit data centre construction, protesters arrived in force.
Faced with overwhelming community opposition, lawyers representing Google withdrew their plans for the operation entirely.
"We beat Google," said one unidentified resident in an X video shared by More Perfect Union. "For a long time, we felt like four people with cardboard swords fighting a monster, but tonight shows that people power still rings."
Another woman in the same video said: "This was do-or-die. We came prepared to fight with everything we have against this data centre."
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One woman named Meredith Sharp formed a group with her neighbours called Protect Franklin Township. They launched petitions, ran targeted digital ads and bought billboards in the hopes of terminating Google’s project.
“All of us had so much skin in the game that we weren't really in a position where we felt like we had everything to lose, so why not just fight with everything we had?” she explained.
Despite the victory, the residents can't afford to be complacent. Futurism reported that Google can refile the same plans in as little as three months unless the local communities are willing to continue taking action.