OMAHA – Residents of the low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood of North Omaha rejoiced when they discovered that a power plant from the 1950s in their vicinity would finally cease to burn coal. This community has been grappling with some of the worst air pollution in the region, alongside alarming rates of asthma.

However, when the 2023 deadline arrived for the coal plant to stop its operations, the power company in charge hesitated. The intention to eliminate harmful emissions came into conflict with another priority: meeting the energy demands of large data centers operated by tech giants such as Meta and Google, which the utility had previously helped attract to the area—before ensuring they had sufficient power to accommodate the added demand.

The rapidly expanding data centers, which supply computational support for artificial intelligence, are causing a surge in the region’s energy consumption. According to the Omaha Public Power District, the overall electricity demand in Omaha has risen so dramatically that completely shutting down the two coal-burning units at the North Omaha facility could endanger the stability of the local electricity grid.

“A promise was made, and then they broke it,” expressed Cheryl Weston, who has resided in North Omaha for fifty years. “The tech companies are accountable for this. The coal plant remains operational because they require all this energy to expand.”

Coal is scheduled to continue burning in North Omaha until 2026, as stated by the utility, although critics like Weston express doubts about whether it will actually stop at that time.

The ongoing disputes in Omaha regarding data centers and power demands reflect similar issues occurring nationwide. The rapid expansion of data centers coincides with utility plans to extend coal usage in states like Georgia, Utah, and Wisconsin. The situation in Nebraska highlights how the competition among major technology firms to secure a lead in

AI

is at odds with climate objectives and may pose risks to public health.

The Omaha Public Power District attributes the missed closure deadline for its North Omaha coal-burning units to the slow advent of clean energy sources from wind and solar, which face significant pushback in rural regions. They also refer to regulatory holdups that have delayed the transition from coal to natural gas, pointing to lengthy waits for new projects to connect to the regional power grid and mandates for minimum energy supplies. However, some industry insiders argue that this narrative does not encompass the entire picture.

They assert that the vast amount of electricity consumed by companies like Google and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, significantly contributes to the extended use of coal. The utility’s estimates suggest that two-thirds of the anticipated growth in the Omaha region’s energy demand can be attributed to the large data centers being constructed primarily on former agricultural land in the surrounding areas.

“If not for the data centers and poor planning by the utility, they would not need to push to keep those coal units open,” remarked Devi Glick, a principal at the consulting firm Synapse Energy Economics. “It is disingenuous to say that is not what is driving this.”

The electricity demands of data centers are staggering. For instance, Meta’s data center in Nebraska consumed nearly as much energy as the North Omaha coal units generated in 2023, as per company and federal energy reports. This amount of electricity could power more than half the homes in Omaha.

According to research from DC Byte, Google’s energy consumption in the Omaha area surpasses that of Meta. The data indicates that Google utilizes more electricity in Nebraska than in any other state across the U.S.

The issues faced in Omaha are not isolated. Companies are actively searching across the country for alternative locations for data centers due to land and energy constraints in established tech centers like Northern Virginia and California’s Bay Area. Regions that have recently caught the attention of Silicon Valley are now being explored by groups of tech leaders, energy providers, and real estate agents seeking reliable power sources.

Omaha has become a focal point due to its abundant, affordable electricity and seemingly limitless potential to transform farmland into expansive solar and wind energy projects.

Although new solar and wind power sources have been slow to integrate into the utility’s offerings, technology firms assert that their operations in Nebraska are environmentally friendly. By entering into agreements with remote renewable energy providers, they assert a “net zero” effect on greenhouse gas emissions, despite the ongoing local pollution from the North Omaha coal plant.

Local residents express concern that these distant clean energy purchases provide little reassurance. In North Omaha, where 68 percent of the community consists of people of color, asthma rates are among the highest in the nation, as indicated by a study published last year. Research has shown that coal power plants contribute to asthma and higher mortality rates in surrounding communities across the country.

The most recent data centers in the Omaha area are enormous and strikingly out of place amidst the fields of corn and sorghum, resembling something out of a science fiction narrative. Meta’s extensive facility spans 4 million square feet, divided across nine large complexes. The predominantly windowless structures of Google and Meta house the racks and servers vital for serving the world’s cloud computing demands today, while also fueling the burgeoning growth of artificial intelligence.

Data centers are projected to account for as much as 17 percent of the total electricity consumption in the U.S. by 2030, as indicated by new research from Bloomberg Intelligence. This figure represents nearly a fourfold increase from current consumption levels. In the Omaha area, utility officials have announced plans to double the electricity generation capacity by that time. Initially, Meta overlooked Omaha, but in order to attract the tech giant, local utility leaders established a special industrial electricity rate in 2017.

Subsequently, the utility actively promoted this rate to Google. Former Governor Pete Ricketts (R) remarked in 2020 that the Omaha Public Power District played a crucial role in enticing Google to Nebraska.

“It has taken us 75 years to reach our current status,” stated Javier Fernandez, CEO of the Omaha Public Power District, in a blog post. “By 2030, we aim to nearly double our energy generation portfolio, which is remarkable.” Utility officials mention plans to incorporate substantial amounts of wind and solar energy to meet around 60 percent of the anticipated increase in electricity demand, with natural gas accounting for much of the remainder.

Local activists express concern over what they perceive as a lackluster response from tech companies regarding the ongoing reliance on fossil fuels in Omaha, including both coal and natural gas. They argue that these companies must take a clear stance to ensure they will not continue to grow if the electricity provider relies on non-renewable energy sources.

“They’re merely spectators in this situation,” noted Preston Love, a veteran community organizer from North Omaha who is currently a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. “They are not actively participating. It’s disappointing. They need to raise their voices.”

The technology firms, which turned down requests for interviews, assert that every watt of energy consumed by their data centers is balanced with the acquisition of clean energy from other parts of the regional power grid. However, these agreements are integrated into an extensive power grid that stretches across 14 states from Louisiana to Montana. Numerous experts and activists contend that a significant portion of that clean energy would likely still be generated, regardless of whether these tech companies were entering contracts.

“These tech companies are merely pushing papers in Nebraska, and there are not enough tangible projects being established that actually introduce new wind and solar energy into the grid at this time,” remarked Jane Kleeb, the founder of Bold Nebraska, an organization instrumental in halting the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project.

Kleeb emphasized that tech companies should assist in mitigating the rural resistance that has surfaced against large-scale wind and solar installations. “Google and Meta appear to be claiming ‘Yes, we’re net zero,’ but are placing the burden of constructing clean energy solely on us, without extending their support to our initiatives,” she stated.

The Omaha Public Power District is developing a prominent solar initiative, covering 2,800 acres of farmland in York County, located 100 miles from Omaha. This project is facing a chilly response from local residents. During community meetings, locals have voiced their concerns regarding the project’s magnitude, its agricultural implications, the rumored chemicals present in solar panels, and fears that the solar farm will produce noise. Some of these worries, experts indicate, stem from misinformation circulating online, while others reflect a rural community anxious about preserving its agricultural heritage.

Some of the tension is rooted in resentment that Omaha recruited the data centers and is receiving the tax revenue and jobs they generate, while now seeking to remote, rural communities to host the large-scale energy installations required to power them.

“I guarantee the individuals who claim to support this project wouldn’t want to have them in their backyard,” local resident Jim Jackson stated at a county meeting in June, as noted in the meeting minutes.

“Why target prime farmland?” York County commissioner Stan Boehr asked Omaha utility officials during the gathering. “Why not consider areas where you are not disrupting people’s lives?” County officials did not provide comments on the matter. York County’s proposed ordinance would ban the installation of large solar projects within a half-mile of other properties.

Fernandez, the CEO of Omaha Public Power District, referred to the York County measure as “unreasonable and harmful to essential clean energy initiatives.”

Omaha Public Power has taken a stance against a battery project that advocates for clean energy argue is essential to back up wind and solar farms within the state. These batteries serve to maintain a consistent flow of electricity during times when solar and wind energy generation is low.

In April, the Omaha Public Power District determined that the developer, Eolian, could not connect the battery systems they intend to set up on an industrial site close to Omaha’s coal-fired power plant. The utility stated that private companies are not allowed to link such projects to the grid, as Nebraska operates under a “public power” system where infrastructure needs to be owned by the community.

Officials from Eolian, who have dedicated six years to their planning efforts, expressed that the ruling took them by surprise. They contend that Nebraska law has explicit exemptions that permit the procurement of clean energy from private entities.

“Given the large and growing data center footprint in Omaha, it is perplexing that the local utility would deliberately hinder the integration of multi-hour battery energy storage resources,” stated Eolian CEO Aaron Zubaty. The utility has responded by asserting that the exceptions are limited and do not permit “a privately owned, stand-alone battery storage facility.” Eolian and the utility now plan to appeal to the Nebraska Power Review Board, which holds the power to approve the project.

As these debates unfold, residents of North Omaha are accusing the power company and technology firms of addressing the issues not by reducing energy consumption, but by designating North Omaha as a “sacrifice zone.”

Community members express that their area has been overlooked and under-resourced for many years. The average household income stands at $47,300, significantly lower than that of the rest of the city. Although tech companies and local leaders claim that the data centers have infused the region with hundreds of millions of dollars in investments and created thousands of jobs, residents in North Omaha feel the benefits have eluded them. They remain burdened with two additional years of coal emissions.

“This would never be tolerated in a wealthy White community,” remarked Anthony Rogers-Wright, an activist from North Omaha. “The people here are regarded as disposable. If the power company wasn’t prepared to offer clean energy, it should never have invited these data centers to Omaha.”

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