The rise of AI has been undeniable. Platforms, from social media apps to search engines, have been incorporating AI, subsequently creating the need for data centers. According to IBM, an AI data center is a “facility that houses the specific IT infrastructure needed to train, deploy and deliver AI applications and services. It has advanced compute, network and storage architectures and energy and cooling capabilities to handle AI workloads.”
These AI data centers have been implemented across the country, with Secaucus, NJ, being one of the latest locations. CoreSite, a digital infrastructure company that operates data centers, announced the completion of its newest facility, named NY3, intended to serve the New York metropolitan area. This data center “offers direct cloud connection to AWS and delivers a diverse ecosystem where enterprises, such as global financial services, higher education institutions as well as domestic and international carriers, securely and cost effectively conduct business.”
In addition, NY3 has “advanced liquid cooling capabilities to provide enhanced thermal efficiency needed to support high-performance computing and AI-driven workloads,” aligning with industry trends the CoreSite noted in its 2025 State of the Data Center Report. This report also highlighted cloud interconnection as the number one reason for organizations to colocate their AI workloads, underscoring the demand for data centers.
Still, data centers are controversial due to their environmental impacts — mainly their water consumption. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) noted, “Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day, equivalent to the water use of a town populated by 10,000 to 50,000 people.” Furthermore, EESI explains that data centers source their water from “blue sources (e.g., surface water and groundwater), piped sources such as municipal water, and gray sources (e.g., purified reclaimed water).” This means that these data centers are putting stress on local water supplies, consequently putting communities at risk.
AI data centers also demand electricity to power their workloads, increasing operational costs, and this is a cost residents are being forced to pay. Bloomberg News found that “electricity now costs as much as 267% more for a single month than it did five years ago in areas located near significant data center activity […] wholesale commodity costs are passed on to households and businesses on their utility bills, which then include other charges to maintain and expand the network. That can affect even customers who aren’t in close proximity to a data center, since their energy relies on the same grid.”
As NY3 adds to the growing number of data centers in the United States, it is important to be cognizant of the benefits and detriments these facilities pose to local communities.
