OT: Good news for Brandon.

dorndawg

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Sep 10, 2012
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some ill-informed people on this subject in here. The jobs number isn't really the big benefit to the counties and cities and school districts hosting these projects. It's the PRE-NEGOTIATED fee-in-lieu agreement revenue that will be game-changing for the areas that host these. No, they don't skirt paying taxes. They pay them via the fee-in-lieu agreement. For example, the $10 Billion data center in Lauderdale county will bring the county an additional $75 MM per year every year, for 30 years. Then it will be re-negotiated. It will bring that same amount to the Lauderdale county school district. When your current budget is $65 MM a year, that's game changing money for them. Their yearly revenue will more than double. You can really improve your community with that kind of money. You can do the math and see what Rankin County and the school district will get from this. I have been in meetings and discussions on three of these data centers. The power consumption situation had to be settled before the companies would even go forward with due diligence engineering work to see if a site is even suitable for their project. The statewide capacity is there, from MS Power, Entergy, and TVA. The chicken little folks sky screaming about their light bill going up are doing so from an ignorant standpoint. The consumer of the electricity is who pays the power bill. They don't take a power bill from a data center and spread it around to everyone else in the service area and give them power for free. They pay their own bill. As a side note, the state of MS also gets a third of that money. So, these data centers could single-handedly save PERS, and then some.
This almost sounds too good to be true...
 

civildawg88

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Aug 22, 2012
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incorrect. You believe what you want. I'm intimately involved in several of these. I don't speak from an outsider's standpoint. There will be a lot of things done outside the box on these data centers. Things that break the mold. You'll just have to wait and see. It's not like your sky screaming will stop them from coming. People a lot smarter than you are driving this ship
I'm just telling facts. Residential customers will be on the hook for the upgrades to substations and generation plants because Entergy add those costs to the rate base. Why do you think the president of Entergy MS is in an all out propaganda war with the Northside Sun journalist that uncovered this fiasco. Sorry you're to bias too see it.
 

ababyatemydingo

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Nov 27, 2008
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I'm just telling facts. Residential customers will be on the hook for the upgrades to substations and generation plants because Entergy add those costs to the rate base. Why do you think the president of Entergy MS is in an all out propaganda war with the Northside Sun journalist that uncovered this fiasco. Sorry you're to bias to see it.
no, they won't. There are 35 gigawatts of data centers in northern virginia. again, with all due respect, you're speaking from an ignorant standpoint. Just sit back and enjoy
 
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civildawg88

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Aug 22, 2012
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no, they won't. There are 35 gigawatts of data centers in northern virginia. again, with all due respect, you're speaking from an ignorant standpoint. Just sit back and enjoy
Did you seriously just try to compare data centers in Virginia to ones in MS? A different state with different laws and different PSC laws. Yeah you really know what you're talking about
 

OG Goat Holder

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Sep 30, 2022
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The article clearly states "These include at least 60 direct, high-tech jobs".

Not sure why that led you using "ill-informed" and "stupid", but congrats on getting a cut of the deal I suppose.
I’m skeptical of these huge power sucks too but I think by now most of us have figured out that @Shmuley has something to do with this line of work. MDA probably 😂.

Seems like someone had laid it all a few months ago when the Murderidian ones were announced.
 
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GloryDawg

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People thinking this is a good thing are a little short sighted. When your electric bill continues to sky rocket, you can look back at these centers and point to why. Don't believe the propaganda coming from Entergy and other politicians that the company is paying for all the electrical grid upgrades because I can tell you for a fact, they aren't. The residential customers are going to be fronting some of that money
I don't think Brandon is service by Entergy anymore. There are two, Delta Utilites (not sure if they merge or one bought the other) and Southern Pine. I don't know which company service that part of Brandon. I'll say this Entergy might service that part of Brandon. I am service by Delta and I live in East Brandon.
 
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Shmuley

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I don't think Brandon is service by Entergy anymore. There are two, Delta Utilites (not sure if they merge or one bought the other) and Southern Pine. I don't know which company service that part of Brandon. I'll say this Entergy might service that part of Brandon. I am service by Delta and I live in East Brandon.
Delta Utilities is natural gas, brah.

Entergy has a significant amount of certificated area within the Brandon city limits, including the area where this data center is located. Entergy has agreed to supply the power for phase 1.
 
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GloryDawg

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Delta Utilities is natural gas, brah.

Entergy has a significant amount of certificated area within the Brandon city limits, including the area where this data center is located. Entergy has agreed to supply the power for phase 1.
I am getting message from Entergy that they will become Delta. Now I had Center Point gas and Entergy electric. Delta took over Center Point and the message from Entergy might be a generic message they are putting out. You probably correct but Entergy should do a better job of educating dumbasses like me.

Edited to say. I just went and read the entire message and yes, they are specifying gas only.
 

johnson86-1

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Aug 22, 2012
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Great news for Mississippi to continue to land these projects. I am curious to see where the power for these come from. They are tremendous energy hogs and regulations along with certain government grants drying up are roadblocks to new energy development.

Again, this is good news. I am just interested to see how that part plays out.

Keep rolling on Tater.
Not to worry. It will be powered by entergy’s reliable service.**
 
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OG Goat Holder

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It's the PRE-NEGOTIATED fee-in-lieu agreement revenue that will be game-changing for the areas that host these. No, they don't skirt paying taxes. They pay them via the fee-in-lieu agreement. For example, the $10 Billion data center in Lauderdale county will bring the county an additional $75 MM per year every year, for 30 years.
Just out of curiosity, why would a company pay 75M to the County? What is that fee?
 

johnson86-1

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Just out of curiosity, why would a company pay 75M to the County? What is that fee?
There are laws that allow for abatement of ad galore taxes for new investment. Once you reach a certain size investment, they can just negotiate a fee to pay in lieu of ad valorem taxes. There are some minimum requirements to make sure schools get there’s and that the counties don’t give away everything competing for investment. Lots of counties also have policies that they won’t abate say road and bridge portions of ad valors because new investment generally puts new stress on infrastructure.
 
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Howiefeltersnstch

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Where does the water go when they are done with it ? Does it dump back out into the river or evaporate into the atmosphere or what ?
 

OopsICroomedmypants

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People thinking this is a good thing are a little short sighted. When your electric bill continues to sky rocket, you can look back at these centers and point to why. Don't believe the propaganda coming from Entergy and other politicians that the company is paying for all the electrical grid upgrades because I can tell you for a fact, they aren't. The residential customers are going to be fronting some of that money
They will never be able to support electric cars in Brandon now!
 
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ababyatemydingo

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There are laws that allow for abatement of ad galore taxes for new investment. Once you reach a certain size investment, they can just negotiate a fee to pay in lieu of ad valorem taxes. There are some minimum requirements to make sure schools get there’s and that the counties don’t give away everything competing for investment. Lots of counties also have policies that they won’t abate say road and bridge portions of ad valors because new investment generally puts new stress on infrastructure.
This man knows what he speaks of. The "fee-in-lieu" of ad valorem taxes is pre-negotiated between the state of MS, the county, and the company. The revenue is split three ways between the state, county/city, and school district where the development physically sits. It's generally lower than what the ad valorem taxes would be, but it guarantees a set revenue stream for the government entities and the company also knows their taxes won't increase for whatever the term of the agreement is for. It's based on the value of the property, building, and equipment inside the building. Data centers are different from most industrial developments in that the value of the equipment inside it stays high. They replace the servers about every five years. Whereas, with an industrial development the fee-in-lieu would start high and tail off as the development ages. You don't see that tailing off with data centers. The revenue stays high. That will give your communities steady revenue for a long time and revenue to really transform communities.
 
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JackShephard

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Sep 27, 2011
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The water is my concern. I can't help but think these companies are laughing at our willingness to trade natural resources for $$$s. Other than eyesore/visibility, I see little difference in potentially ruining water tables vs farmland. I'm not read in enough to know that we aren't giving that proper consideration, I've just seen enough articles related to negative impact on water sources from places that have a number of data centers in place and are not approving any more.
I've heard a tiny bit about the water issues, but I have to admit I'm a bit ignorant on the subject. What is the issue? Why do they negatively affect water sources/supply? I know they have huge chiller farms and other water cooled systems, but I assumed those were all closed loop systems. I'm probably missing the obvious, but I just haven't really thought about it that much.
 

Dawgg

Heisman
Sep 9, 2012
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I dunno. I’ve heard for decades from the “Drill Here, Drill Now” crowd that it’s “basic Econ 101 supply & demand” that producing more oil would help keep the price of oil down.

Now, if we apply that same “supply & demand” principle to the ENORMOUS amount of energy and water that’s going to be demanded by these data centers, then it stands to reason that the price of water and electricity for everybody that uses the same supply will go up.

If the company and/or the state are taking steps to mitigate/eliminate the impact to local residents, then that’s great, they SHOULD be doing that. I don’t think raising water and electrical consumption as legitimate concerns is some kind of political “gotcha”, regardless of your affiliation.

Also, if Tate and the MDA wanted to do something really impressive, they would get a major corporation to relocate its headquarters to Mississippi. I don’t mean some little 100 job operation either. I mean a legit “thousands of jobs” corporate headquarters.
 
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JackShephard

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Sep 27, 2011
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I'm just telling facts. Residential customers will be on the hook for the upgrades to substations and generation plants because Entergy add those costs to the rate base. Why do you think the president of Entergy MS is in an all out propaganda war with the Northside Sun journalist that uncovered this fiasco. Sorry you're to bias too see it.
"Sorry you're to bias too see it."

This is the guy I'll choose to believe here. LOL
 

Darryl Steight

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Sep 30, 2022
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Pretty sure that guy is a Barksdale/Scruggs plant. "Papa Mississippi." Come on.
He's not even from the state - I think he's from like Pennsylvania or something, but lives here now. He may be a paid shill, but I actually like most of his videos, which promote Mississippi socially. He seems super high on the state and puts cool info out that tends to give us good press. Which is what makes this one so out of the blue to me.

I get being concerned about environmental impact and all that crap - see my comment about AWS and their water system - but instead of seeing this as an overall postive thing with some "but let's figure this part out" caveats... this particular video of his seemed surprisingly negative and political (to me).

By the way, allow me one diatribe here before I get scolded by the NIMBYs... my opinion about this project is like almost all economic development projects -- at least they are doing something to help us build up the state. Some out of state company wants to build something here, pay taxes or in-lieu fees, create jobs for Mississippians, build up our school and infrastructure coiffers? YES PLEASE. Do we need to do things to make sure the state is protected financially, and environmentally? Absolutely. Let's figure those things out for sure.

If they need more power, let's build it. That's even more construction jobs, more electrical engineers, more service techs that have jobs in the future too. If they need more water, figure it out like AWS did. Not only are they using a currently non-potable water source, but I think I read by 2030 or 2040, their system will be completely self-sustaining, so they won't need more at that point and may even have a surplus of clean (at that point potable) water that could help supply the community. THAT's what we need to be doing. THAT's how humans evolve in a technologically advancing society. We don't just shut everything down immediately and say "No thank you, we don't want your growth, money, and jobs here. We're fine with the status quo here in good ol' Missipp."
 

Faustdog

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He's not even from the state - I think he's from like Pennsylvania or something, but lives here now. He may be a paid shill, but I actually like most of his videos, which promote Mississippi socially. He seems super high on the state and puts cool info out that tends to give us good press. Which is what makes this one so out of the blue to me.
I'm with you. I watched and liked his videos for a while.

He started out just promoting Mississippi, but recently the videos have become more and more political. And this bashing of the data center is par for the course. Bashing economic development is all the rage in certain circles.

All of the negatives brought up here are addressed, and they seem to be just copy and paste from mad lefty's in other areas.
 

Darryl Steight

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I've heard a tiny bit about the water issues, but I have to admit I'm a bit ignorant on the subject. What is the issue? Why do they negatively affect water sources/supply? I know they have huge chiller farms and other water cooled systems, but I assumed those were all closed loop systems. I'm probably missing the obvious, but I just haven't really thought about it that much.
I think a lot of it is closed loop, but with evaporation and maybe just ever-increasing demand, they have traditionally needed a large supply of water. But that's getting better. AWS as I referenced above, recognized the problem and is doing things to help. They're using wastewater where available, so that's a good answer. Using water that is non-drinkable to cool their data centers. They are recycling and re-using water more than ever as well - they have an initiative trying to get to water-neutral, fully self-sustained systems across their network of data centers by 2030.

I'm assuming other companies will follow suit.
 

Dawgg

Heisman
Sep 9, 2012
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Some out of state company wants to build something here, pay taxes or in-lieu fees, create jobs for Mississippians, build up our school and infrastructure coiffers? YES PLEASE.
I guess with Hugh Freeze in Alabama now, somebody has to do something to support the local coiffers.
 

Shmuley

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Mar 6, 2008
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I think a lot of it is closed loop, but with evaporation and maybe just ever-increasing demand, they have traditionally needed a large supply of water. But that's getting better. AWS as I referenced above, recognized the problem and is doing things to help. They're using wastewater where available, so that's a good answer. Using water that is non-drinkable to cool their data centers. They are recycling and re-using water more than ever as well - they have an initiative trying to get to water-neutral, fully self-sustained systems across their network of data centers by 2030.

I'm assuming other companies will follow suit.
^^^ This. Closed system with recirculation. The impact on the local water supply is manageable.
 
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Darryl Steight

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Also, if Tate and the MDA wanted to do something really impressive, they would get a major corporation to relocate its headquarters to Mississippi. I don’t mean some little 100 job operation either. I mean a legit “thousands of jobs” corporate headquarters.

I started to just say 'no ****, Sherlock' but in all seriousness... Do people who are against the Brandon data center (as an example) think it's more likely that Tate and the MDA would have more success in the future recruiting a corporation to move their HQ here by

(a) welcoming smaller projects like this and showing that Mississippi can solve any challenges that come up, in effect hanging a sign that says "Open for Business";
or
(b) by shutting down all the data center offers because it's too hard, or "not enough jobs" or "we don't have enough power" or "they might use all our water"?

There's a clear and obvious answer here.
 

JackShephard

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Sep 27, 2011
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I think a lot of it is closed loop, but with evaporation and maybe just ever-increasing demand, they have traditionally needed a large supply of water. But that's getting better. AWS as I referenced above, recognized the problem and is doing things to help. They're using wastewater where available, so that's a good answer. Using water that is non-drinkable to cool their data centers. They are recycling and re-using water more than ever as well - they have an initiative trying to get to water-neutral, fully self-sustained systems across their network of data centers by 2030.

I'm assuming other companies will follow suit.
I did a little research, and, yes, that's right. I was surprised at first to learn that they generally used water cooling instead of air cooling, but I learned that air cooling actually uses more water in many instances because air cooling at that scale requires so much more power consumption at the data center that the power plants have to ramp up generation significantly. The extra power consumption uses more water at the power plant than the data center would by just going with water-cooled towers.

So, yes, it's a real issue. They generally need to use drinking water, with added chemicals, for their processes to prevent corrosion and other maintenance issues. So that's two problems - they use the drinking water, and they can't dump back into it because of all the added chemicals.

Some places, like Sweden, have started pumping the data center's waste water back to the power plant for use there. And like you said, AWS (along with I think Google and Meta) have pledged to be "water positive" by 2030. Not sure I believe they'll achieve it, but at least they're working towards it.

In summary, I agree it's a legitimate concern, and the folks around Jackson, Madison, Brandon, etc. should all be asking questions about how/if their drinking water is being protected. Hopefully the Pearl River can be used in some way, without damaging it either.
 

Darryl Steight

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I did a little research, and, yes, that's right. I was surprised at first to learn that they generally used water cooling instead of air cooling, but I learned that air cooling actually uses more water in many instances because air cooling at that scale requires so much more power consumption at the data center that the power plants have to ramp up generation significantly. The extra power consumption uses more water at the power plant than the data center would by just going with water-cooled towers.

So, yes, it's a real issue. They generally need to use drinking water, with added chemicals, for their processes to prevent corrosion and other maintenance issues. So that's two problems - they use the drinking water, and they can't dump back into it because of all the added chemicals.

Some places, like Sweden, have started pumping the data center's waste water back to the power plant for use there. And like you said, AWS (along with I think Google and Meta) have pledged to be "water positive" by 2030. Not sure I believe they'll achieve it, but at least they're working towards it.

In summary, I agree it's a legitimate concern, and the folks around Jackson, Madison, Brandon, etc. should all be asking questions about how/if their drinking water is being protected. Hopefully the Pearl River can be used in some way, without damaging it either.
Here's the article I was referencing. AWS is using the Big Black River.

AWS Water supply system in Canton
 

horshack.sixpack

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I've heard a tiny bit about the water issues, but I have to admit I'm a bit ignorant on the subject. What is the issue? Why do they negatively affect water sources/supply? I know they have huge chiller farms and other water cooled systems, but I assumed those were all closed loop systems. I'm probably missing the obvious, but I just haven't really thought about it that much.
Cooling and power generation seem to be the culprit. Stats are that medium-sized data centers can use 110 million gallons per year, comparable to the needs of 1,000 households. I've seen a stat that equated a 100 word AI prompt for information to a use of 500mL of water. I suspect that technology will help solve this, possibly in the form of these small nuclear reactors using molten salt. Very likely is that if it truly becomes a problem, we will see restrictions placed on their use of water (I suspect their cheapest form of cooling) and possibly force them into higher cost solutions. Without a doubt those solutions will have some kind of negative impact somewhere whether known or unintended...
 

horshack.sixpack

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People thinking this is a good thing are a little short sighted. When your electric bill continues to sky rocket, you can look back at these centers and point to why. Don't believe the propaganda coming from Entergy and other politicians that the company is paying for all the electrical grid upgrades because I can tell you for a fact, they aren't. The residential customers are going to be fronting some of that money
I have no idea how it might impact my energy costs, but I do know that if we flipped the on switch at the Amazon data centers in Madison today, they would consume 60% of all the power that Entergy generates. Post Entergy upgrades to support these data centers, they will still consume 40% of all power generation by Entergy.