Batteries Instead of Data-Centres
The Issue
Currently there are massive investments being poured into the construction of Data-Centres, and among the long list of controversies associated with these facilities is the fact that they consume absolutely astronomical amounts of energy.
If we keep going ahead with their construction, then we’ll only be increasing even more and more the burden on our already fragile electric grid, which means we’ll be forced to burn even more and more fossil fuels in order to keep up with their demand. On the other hand, if we take the exact same resources that are already available today for the data-centres and instead use them towards adding storage capacity to our energy infrastructure, then we’ll be able to use more and more renewable energy and produce less and less greenhouse gas emissions as a result.
COST COMPARISON
The average cost to build a data center in the USA is cited as $597M [Terrapin Construction Group], and utility-scale battery storage is cited at $148/kWh in 2024 [International Energy Agency]. Using $148/kWh as an installed cost benchmark, $597M corresponds to roughly 4.04 million kWh (≈4,040 MWh) of battery energy capacity.
According to Erin Brockovich’s AI Data Center Map there are currently 33 operational, 66 under construction, and 44 proposed. Which means we could’ve had 133,320 MWh operational storage capacity, 266,640 MWh under construction, and 177,760 MWh proposed if we’d used those resources to build batteries instead.
On top of that, according to Euronews just last year Britain wasted €1.78B by turning down wind turbines and paying gas plant to switch on, and in Germany compensation costs for the curtailment of renewable energy hit €435 million, for a combined total of €2.2B ($2.5B USD) being flushed down the toilet. Which means that, with just a single year worth of waste, we could’ve built 16,892 MWh storage capacity for renewable energy.
[ NOTE: These calculations are intended as a ballpark illustration only. ]
Data-Centres are pushing our electric grid to a breaking-point [“county with 37 data centres asks schools to ‘conserve electricity’”], and at a time when we already missed the 1.5°C climate target, we should be prioritizing the construction of batteries for renewable energies over the construction of data-centres, by reallocating the resources currently available from the latter to the former #NetZero2030
If you believe the massive investments being poured into the construction of data-centres right now are a misuse of resources, please sign and share this petition.
PS – And for those pushing for the data-centres, since they require such massive amounts of electricity this can still be seen as an investment towards them anyway, by investing in the underlying infrastructure – like a builder reinforcing the house’s foundation before adding a second floor. Because if the builder doesn’t reinforce the house’s foundation *FIRST*, then the addition of that second floor will just overwhelm the insufficient foundation and cause both first and second floors to collapse together anyway [“over 842,000 without power as US is blanketed by heatwave”]
Sources:
Renewable Energies (1) –– Just-In-Case Infrastructures
Renewable Energies (2) –– Distribution Economics
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The Issue
Currently there are massive investments being poured into the construction of Data-Centres, and among the long list of controversies associated with these facilities is the fact that they consume absolutely astronomical amounts of energy.
If we keep going ahead with their construction, then we’ll only be increasing even more and more the burden on our already fragile electric grid, which means we’ll be forced to burn even more and more fossil fuels in order to keep up with their demand. On the other hand, if we take the exact same resources that are already available today for the data-centres and instead use them towards adding storage capacity to our energy infrastructure, then we’ll be able to use more and more renewable energy and produce less and less greenhouse gas emissions as a result.
COST COMPARISON
The average cost to build a data center in the USA is cited as $597M [Terrapin Construction Group], and utility-scale battery storage is cited at $148/kWh in 2024 [International Energy Agency]. Using $148/kWh as an installed cost benchmark, $597M corresponds to roughly 4.04 million kWh (≈4,040 MWh) of battery energy capacity.
According to Erin Brockovich’s AI Data Center Map there are currently 33 operational, 66 under construction, and 44 proposed. Which means we could’ve had 133,320 MWh operational storage capacity, 266,640 MWh under construction, and 177,760 MWh proposed if we’d used those resources to build batteries instead.
On top of that, according to Euronews just last year Britain wasted €1.78B by turning down wind turbines and paying gas plant to switch on, and in Germany compensation costs for the curtailment of renewable energy hit €435 million, for a combined total of €2.2B ($2.5B USD) being flushed down the toilet. Which means that, with just a single year worth of waste, we could’ve built 16,892 MWh storage capacity for renewable energy.
[ NOTE: These calculations are intended as a ballpark illustration only. ]
Data-Centres are pushing our electric grid to a breaking-point [“county with 37 data centres asks schools to ‘conserve electricity’”], and at a time when we already missed the 1.5°C climate target, we should be prioritizing the construction of batteries for renewable energies over the construction of data-centres, by reallocating the resources currently available from the latter to the former #NetZero2030
If you believe the massive investments being poured into the construction of data-centres right now are a misuse of resources, please sign and share this petition.
PS – And for those pushing for the data-centres, since they require such massive amounts of electricity this can still be seen as an investment towards them anyway, by investing in the underlying infrastructure – like a builder reinforcing the house’s foundation before adding a second floor. Because if the builder doesn’t reinforce the house’s foundation *FIRST*, then the addition of that second floor will just overwhelm the insufficient foundation and cause both first and second floors to collapse together anyway [“over 842,000 without power as US is blanketed by heatwave”]
Sources:
Renewable Energies (1) –– Just-In-Case Infrastructures
Renewable Energies (2) –– Distribution Economics
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Petition created on July 22, 2026