Sat, Aug 22 · 2:00 PM EDT
"ARE DATA CENTERS GOOD ECONOMICS"?
Increase in electricity prices, tax abatement, incentives for the owners of the centers,
Employment during and after construction,
Value of local and federal moratoriums on the construction of hyperscale centers,
Public investment and ownership.
The State of Ohio is in the middle of the data center controversy. Several hyperscale data centers are under construction and expected to be completed this year. Still, there is a groundswell of community protests resulting in 6-month to 1-year moratoriums on new hyperscale data center developments to study infrastructure, noise, and energy impacts.
Massive capital investments by tech companies, Hundreds of short-term and permanent jobs, Billions in broader economic activity and state tax revenues, Major utility grid upgrades .
But these benefits may not be true and are not guaranteed after billions of dollars of investments and the sacrifice of prime real estate that could be used for housing developments in communities.
These benefits compete with the “volatility” of the technology and Chinese, “open weight,” as well as open-source models that are now performing better than Western models. Green data centers are also an approach to high-performance computing without the need for hyperscaling. We are also seeing “volatility” in private equity firms that fund the building of these centers, where some have been indefinitely postponed, scaled down, or canceled altogether. Are Data centers worth the gamble of decimating our quality of life, infrastructure, and economic future?
This event will be a 60-minute remote interview & discussion beginning with a short (10 mins.) introduction, followed by 30 minutes of Q&A.
DR. AJ SUMELL'S BIO
Dr. AJ Sumell is a professor of economics at Youngstown State University. He joined the faculty in 2005 after earning a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. He has authored or co-authored 15 academic publications, presented at more than 40 academic conferences, and given invited talks. He has been interviewed by local, national, and international media more than 100 times. AJ currently serves as chief negotiator for YSU's faculty union, YSU-OEA. He serves on the boards of CASTLO Community Improvement Corporation and Thrive Mahoning Valley, and is President of the Board of Trustees for the Montessori School of Mahoning Valley.
Outside of his professional work, AJ enjoys coaching youth soccer, playing tennis, and racing through rounds of Mario Kart with his daughters, Scarlett Marie and Lillian Rose.
Regarding data centers, Dr. Sumell has been a critical voice on the rapid expansion of AI and cloud data centers in Ohio. Specializing in urban and environmental economics, Dr. Sumell has advised local governments on the steep trade-offs between short-term economic development and the long-term strains these facilities place on communities, such as projects on former industrial sites in McDonald and Lordstown. He was invited to address the members of Boardman Township’s zoning commission to educate them about what data centers are and the external impacts associated with them. He has also been interviewed by local news outlets.
