As demand for data centers grows, so do concerns over their effects on Colorado's environment

COLORADO SPRINGS — The banks of black computer servers with twinkling amber and green lights sit in a large, nondescript, tan building, surrounded by a high, spiky steel fence on the edge of the city. It is in computer banks like these that our collective memories reside. Our photos, our videos, documents, passwords, best routes to grandma, business information and our chats with ChatGPT. The memories keep piling. And that is leading to a data center boom, with centers getting bigger, hungrier for power and thirstier for water, raising concerns...