As data center industry booms, an English village becomes a battleground

Originally built to store crops from peasant farmers, the tithe barn on the edge of the English village of Abbots Langley was converted into homes that preserve its centuries of history. Now, its residents are fighting to stop a development next door that represents the future. A proposal to build a data center on a field across the road was rejected by local authorities amid fierce opposition from villagers. But it’s getting a second chance from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government, which is pursuing reforms to boost economic growth following the Labour Party’s election victory in July. Residents of Abbots Langley, 18 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of London, worry the facility will strain local resources and create noise and traffic that damages the character of the quiet village, which is home to just over 20,000 people. As the artificial intelligence boom fuels demand for cloud-based computing from server farms around the world, such projects are pitting business considerations, national priorities, and local interests against each other. The projects are controversial because the data centers would be built on “green belt” land, which has been set aside to prevent urbanization. Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner wants to tap the green belt for development, saying much of it is low quality. Not everyone in the village is opposed. Retiree Bryan Power says he would welcome the data center, believing it would benefit the area in a similar way as another big project on the other side of the village, the Warner Bros.’ Studio Tour featuring a Harry Potter exhibition. “It’ll bring some jobs, whatever. It’ll be good. Yeah. No problem. Because if it doesn’t come, it’ll go somewhere else,” said Power, 56. One of the biggest concerns about data centers is their environmental impact, especially the huge amounts of electricity they need. Greystoke, the company behind the Abbots Langley center, says the facility will draw 96 megawatts of “IT load.” But James Felstead, director of a renewable energy company, said the area’s power grid wouldn’t be able to handle so much extra demand. This article was provided by The Associated Press.