What A Sitcom Reveals About AI Data Centers In Oklahoma

It's no secret that AI data centers are on the hunt for towns in Oklahoma to sink their teeth into. There are current data centers operating in Oklahoma, and there are active proposals to bring in more. With the potential increase of data centers eyeing smaller communities in Oklahoma, residents across the state have been divided about potential impacts of AI data centers.

Some residents are in support of data centers due to the opportunities for potential job growth and possible increase of cashflow into the community. Then there are the residents who are worried about the environmental impacts data centers could have on Oklahoma's communities.

Weighing the good and the bad of AI data centers infiltrating smaller Oklahoma communities can be a daunting task that most residents don't want to take time to look into. Luckily, the NBC sitcom "Stumble," which is based on a fictional Oklahoma town, took on the AI database storyline and gave the environmental impact a comedic twist.

Fictional Oklahoma town pursues AI data center for money and jobs.

"Stumble" is about a cheer coach at a junior college who dreams of getting her team to compete at a national cheer competition in Daytona. The college is located in the fictional Oklahoma town of Headlston.

In season one, episode eight, cheer coach Courtney Potter discovered that her team's gym was being used as the town's community center, which caused conflicts with the team's practices. She learns that the town is being considered for an AI data center, and she sees this as an opportunity to gain sponsorship dollars for her team and reclaim her gym.

At a town meeting, Potter campaigns for the data center, saying that the data center would bring in money and jobs to the town, which it desperately needs. One resident speaks out against Potter, saying the data center could drain the town's resources, specifically electricity and water, and the mayor immediately shuts the opposing resident down.

The town decides to move forward with luring the AI data center to Headlston by hosting a community-wide talent show with the AI data center's CTO in attendance. The CTO decides that Headlston is perfect for the data center based on Potter and her cheer team.

AI data center in 'Stumble' drains fictional Oklahoma town of water and electricity.

In the next episode, the AI data center established itself in Headlston and the town immediately lost all power and water. The college had to shut down, along with the police station and the town's biggest employer, the button candy factory.

Potter spends most of the episode trying to contact city officials about the issues, but continued to get bogged down by an answering machine. She eventually confronts the AI data center's CTO about the negative impacts on the town, and learns that the CTO does not care about the impact their business has on Headlston and its residents.

Eventually, the AI data center is run out of Headlston by Potter convincing the owner of the button factory to exercise their power and connections.

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AI data centers can use as much water as an Oklahoma town with a population of 10,000 or more.

The water and electricity usage can vary depending on the size of the data center. The water and electricity usage for data centers is mostly dedicated to keeping the center cool.

According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, a large date center uses five gallons of water a day, which is equivalent to a town with a population of 10,000 to 50,000. And a medium-sized data center uses up to 110 million gallons of water per year, which is equivalent to the annual water usage of 1,000 households.

As for electricity, the International Energy Agency found that a largescale, AI-focused data center can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households annually. Whereas a conventional data center could use as much electricity as 10,000 to 25,000 households annually.

Data centers also pose significant threats to local power grids due to the centers being spatially concentrated and posing significant power draw.

Will data centers have a day-to-night effect on water and electricity in Oklahoma towns?

Although it has been proven that data centers do use an exorbitant amount of water and electricity, more than the population of most of Oklahoma's smaller towns, but could data centers really have a day-to-night effect on resources like in "Stumble?" Probably not. But they could effect resources and taxpayers faster than residents may anticipate.

But with the research on the use of resources by data centers, there have also been findings to make energy usage by data centers more environmentally responsible. Of course, it's up to the owners of the data centers to reduce the center's environmental impact, not the residents of the towns impacted by the centers.

One thing that's not entirely fictional from "Stumble" that Oklahoma residents may want to heed is that the owners of the data centers may not really care about the communities they prey on.