Massive data centers that allow for the rapid expansion of AI are in the news recently. Many communities are realizing that there are serious problems associated with them such as power and water consumption. Allowing data centers to pay industrial rates for electricity often causes rates to skyrocket for residential users. Data centers use gargantuan amounts of water to cool their servers, resulting in hot waste water that must be disposed of. Frequently sited in the arid west, they can run wells dry and raise water rates. Because expansion has been so swift and unregulated, 70% of all Americans are now opposed to data centers. And because some communities have given tax breaks to the AI companies, leaving taxpayers footing the bill for infrastructure, grassroots resistance to assess costs and benefits is now the norm, both in Seattle and more recently Spokane. Europe has gotten ahead of the planned expansion by regulating growth in advance. They realize that the social license to build is the most valuable permit a developer holds – once you’ve lost the public, you’ve lost the buildout. Among other things, European regulations require data centers to fully fund infrastructure, including electricity, water, and roads, rather than passing that cost on to ratepayers. Green energy is required, instead of building new coal or gas burning power plants. We should take a lesson from Europe. Whether or not we want AI, if we are forced to have it, the companies should bear the full cost of development.