Heat adds to strains on areas with data centers, raising the temperature on AI debates

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https://apnews.com/article/data-center-heat-wave-lowell-5607b4ea8ef9776b28268561060752a8

Heat adds to strains on areas with data centers, raising the temperature on AI debates
By MATT O’BRIEN and KAITLYN HUAMANI
Updated 11:59 AM CDT, July 2, 2026



A data center and its backup diesel generators built by the Markley Group loom over a ballpark and residential neighborhood in Lowell, Mass., on June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt O’Brien)

LOWELL, Mass. (AP) — Eileen Castle’s swimming pool, one of the only ones for blocks around, was once a refuge for neighborhood children on hot summer days.

But even as temperatures soared this week, Castle, 82, said she won’t be filling the pool — not with the data center behind her house buzzing with the sound of its industrial air conditioners and its backup diesel generators belching fumes at unexpected times.

“I think about the air quality, the water, what effects it has on the kids in the area,” she said on her front stoop as children whirred past on bicycles.

Hot weather of the kind sweeping the eastern U.S. drives up electricity demand for data centers, adding to their strain on power grids and worsening air quality for surrounding areas. The impact on communities like the racially diverse Sacred Heart neighborhood in Lowell, Massachusetts underscores why the artificial intelligence industry is feeling so much heat over the fast-sprouting facilities.

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They might as well condemn all the houses located near a data center. Who is going to buy them?