Inside Meta’s strategy to build AI data centers WITHOUT local BACKLASH

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Welcome back. This morning, we're looking again at the national conversation on the rise of AI data centers. Last week, we brought you the story of a community in Utah fighting the development of one of the facilities along the northernmost edge of the state. But in another part of Utah, a city has embraced a data center that is operated by Meta. MSNOW reporter Josh Einiger now brings us that side of the story. [00:00:29] Speaker 2: On the route of the Old Pony Express, they cherish their heritage as they gallop into the future. Eagle Mountain, Utah, an old rodeo town and a new hub for tech. We're the ninth fastest growing city in the nation. Jared Gray is a literal cowboy and also the mayor of Eagle Mountain, a city in the midst of a massive boom thanks to several data centers, starting with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram and one of the world's biggest AI hyperscalers. Back in 2018, when the company first announced plans to build this two billion dollar, four and a half million square foot facility on the edge of town, Gray says city leaders went to work. [00:01:09] Speaker 3: I think we did set some clear expectations in the beginning. And I think they also came in and said, I want to be a good partner. And that was them reaching out to us and we want to be welcomed into the community. And we said, well, then we're going to ask for some things. We're going to ask that you help us out. So those that have been on the receiving end of that understand, man, these guys really do do what they say. [00:01:28] Speaker 2: He says the city negotiated for everything from taxes to water use. Meta committing to restore more water than it consumes by the end of this decade. [00:01:36] Speaker 4: And when it comes to power, it's footing the entire bill here in Eagle Mountain, these high tension power lines are plugged into the public utility grid, bringing electricity. So Meta can run its operations through that giant facility back behind me. But Meta insists it has paid for every dime of the infrastructure improvements and for every wad of power it brings in. And rate payers are not required to shoulder all that extra cost. [00:02:02] Speaker 2: Meta operates 28 data centers across the country, representing billions in investment. But the company hasn't escaped controversy. In Louisiana, Meta fended off questions about a lack of transparency and development. And in Georgia, it found itself in a fight with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over a family's brown drinking water. [00:02:21] Speaker 5: The only difference between the clean water and this was that data center. [00:02:28] Speaker 2: Even though Meta vigorously denied it had caused the problem. But in Eagle Mountain, it's hard to find anyone critical of the social media giant, which has made itself a major part of life. What's inside here? [00:02:41] Courtney Johnson: Well, it's our farm. [00:02:43] Speaker 2: Inside this shipping container is an educator's dream. The hydroponic farm tended by high school students who sell their products at a farmer's market. Courtney Johnson is the former principal of Cedar Valley High School, her hydroponic farm funded by Meta. [00:03:09] Courtney Johnson: So, yeah, they gave me the money and here we have it. [00:03:12] Speaker 4: And it's awesome. A quarter million dollars for this thing. [00:03:15] Courtney Johnson: Yeah, they gave me a quarter million dollars. [00:03:19] Speaker 2: And that was just the beginning of Meta's investment. The company paid for laptops for every student, even funded a soda shop. The proceeds covering the cost of student activities. [00:03:31] Speaker 3: I like that I can work here to pay off student fees so I'm able to do extracurriculars, stuff like that. Like, I work here so that I can do band. [00:03:40] Speaker 2: And the corporate largesse doesn't end at the high school. Mayor Burningham studies the migration patterns of local deer, her organization one of 20 in Eagle Mountain to receive conservation grants from Meta, something that has nothing to do with the data center. [00:03:55] Speaker 7: Well, maybe it's corporate ethics, maybe it's politics, maybe it's profitability. I'm not an insider. I don't know. I only get to see the outcome. And that makes me feel pretty content with what's happened here. [00:04:08] Speaker 2: Amid a widespread national backlash against AI, it's impossible to know if Meta would succeed today if it weren't already here. [00:04:17] Speaker 3: We can still sprawl quite a bit and maintain that country feel. [00:04:22] Speaker 2: But the mayor says Eagle Mountain's story is proof a data center can be a good neighbor. His fast-growing city investing in its future while protecting its past. Josh Heinegger, MS Now, Eagle Mountain, Utah. [00:04:37] Speaker 1: And that was MS Now's Josh Heinegger with that report. Our thanks to him. [00:04:52] Speaker ?: Josh Heinegger, MS Now, Eagle Mountain, Utah.