Why We Must Reject Google's Data Center Proposal

To the Community and City-County Council of Indianapolis: 

Our community is facing a big decision about Google's proposed data center in Franklin Township. We need to ask ourselves some important questions about what kind of growth we want and what type of business practices we'll accept. As someone who owns an electrical company and an AI integration business, I'm writing to you not because I'm against technology, but because I understand these systems really well. I believe our community deserves much better than what's being offered. 

Choosing Between Two Ways of Doing Business 

We're standing at a fork in the road between two different business philosophies. Milton Friedman believed companies should focus only on making money for their shareholders. Everything else comes second. Adam Smith, who basically invented modern capitalism, had a different idea. He thought businesses should make money while also helping the whole community get stronger. Google's data center is pure Friedman thinking. It's designed to pull maximum profit out of our community while giving us the smallest possible return. We should demand the Adam Smith approach instead. We want development that actually makes our community better while still letting companies make reasonable profits. 

I Support Technology, But Not Bad Deals 

Let me be clear about something. I support new technology and I understand why data centers matter. My businesses depend on this stuff. This isn't about being against progress. It's about making sure progress actually helps us instead of simply using us. 

From an engineering perspective, there's really no good technical reason to put this thing in Marion County. Data centers work just as well, often better, in rural areas where there's more space, cheaper land, and less competition for electricity. The timing makes it even worse because Marion county is building the three 16 story tower, IU hospital at the same time, which means our electrical system will be getting hit from both directions. 

I can only assume the reason Google wants to build here instead of somewhere rural is because it's easier to influence politicians, grab bigger tax breaks, and get the kind of special treatment that small towns can't offer. 

Water Usage: Don't Believe the Sales Pitch 

You might have seen in the Indianapolis Star that Google says they'll only use "about 1 million gallons a day." James Briggs compared this to a large hospital. This is like a car salesman telling you the beat-up sedan on the lot runs like a Ferrari. 

Here's what Google's other data centers actually use: 

● Their Iowa facility drank up 1 billion gallons last year. That's 2.7 million gallons every single day. 

● Their Oklahoma and South Carolina centers each gulp down over 2 million gallons daily. 

● In Mesa, Arizona, they can use up to 4 million gallons a day when they're running full speed. 

Think of it this way. A hospital takes care of sick people in our community. Google's data center takes care of Google's bank account while guzzling our water like a giant industrial sponge. We can't make permanent decisions based on temporary promises, especially when Google's track record shows they consistently use way more than they initially claim. 

Job Promises That Don't Pan Out 

Google promises "50 permanent jobs" and "1,000 construction workers over ten years." This sounds great until you look at what actually happens at their other locations. 

Here's the reality. Google has figured out how to build these things with about half the workers they used to need. Most of the jobs go to temporary contractors who don't get regular benefits. Google actually employs more temp workers than full-time employees across all their operations. Even their biggest data centers employ only about 100 to 120 people total. As for the construction jobs, they mostly happen within the first year and a lot of those workers come from out of state. 

It's like promising a big feast but instead, delivering a small snack. The jobs look good on paper, but they don't provide the long-term community benefit we're being promised. 

Tax Breaks That Cost Us Money 

Here's something that might surprise you. Multiple states have studied data center tax breaks, and they actually lose money on these deals. 

● Virginia gets back only 48 cents for every dollar they give away in tax breaks. 

● Ohio could lose $1.6 billion in tax money from big tech data centers. 

● Georgia lost $18 million net on their data center tax breaks just last year. 

● Google's Oregon facility got $240 million in tax breaks over 15 years. 

This isn't economic development. It's like paying someone to shop at your store. We're essentially giving Google money to do something they were probably going to do anyway, while the rest of us pick up the bill. 

Energy Costs: Everyone Pays More 

Our electrical grid is already working pretty hard. Adding a massive industrial facility will definitely make electricity more expensive for everyone. It's like adding another lane to a highway that's already jammed. The new lane doesn't fix the traffic, it just makes it worse. 

Here's the scale we're talking about. Virginia expects their power needs to double in the next ten years, mostly because of data centers. Google's Arizona facility needed them to build new solar and wind farms across multiple states just to keep it running. Studies show these places use 12 times more water indirectly through electricity than they use directly for cooling. 

James Briggs says the energy impact will happen no matter where Google builds because electricity grids are connected. That's like saying it doesn't matter if you park one car or fifty cars in your driveway because they're all cars. Scale matters. Putting multiple giant electricity users in our urban area creates the maximum strain on our existing system while giving Google the minimum costs. 

What Real Community Development Looks Like 

True community development should give us several things. We should get permanent, good-paying jobs for people who actually live here, not temporary contractors. We should get more tax money coming in than we're giving away, even after accounting for the extra costs to our infrastructure. We should get businesses that use resources sustainably, not ones that drain our water and electricity like industrial vampires. And we should get companies that operate transparently and welcome community input, not ones that hide behind fake company names. Companies with positive brand equity don’t have to do that. 

Google's proposal fails every single test. It's designed to squeeze the maximum benefit out of our community while giving us the minimum return. That's the opposite of real economic development. 

A Message to Our City-County Council 

Council members, you're facing a choice that will affect Indianapolis for decades. You can rubber-stamp a deal that benefits Google's shareholders at our expense, or you can demand real community-centered development. 

Before you vote, we're asking you to do several things. 

Get independent studies of the environmental impact based on what Google actually does at their other facilities, not what they promise to do here. Require honest financial analysis using real data from other communities that gave similar tax breaks. Insist on meaningful agreements that actually benefit the community, with standards that can be enforced. Look at Google's actual employment and resource use at their existing data centers. 

Ask yourself this simple question: How does this development make our community stronger, more prosperous, and better prepared for the future? 

A Message to Our Community 

Citizens, this decision affects every household, every business, and every neighborhood in our area. The strain on our infrastructure, higher utility bills, and lost tax revenue will hit all of us. Meanwhile, the benefits flow mostly to Google's shareholders. 

We can choose Adam Smith's vision of capitalism that helps the whole community, or we can accept Milton Friedman's approach where only corporate profits matter. We can demand development that actually improves our community instead of just using it up. 

The evidence is crystal clear. Communities that have said no to bad data center deals have protected their resources, their taxpayers, and their futures. Indianapolis can and should do the same. 

Moving Forward 

This isn't about being against technology or growth. It's about refusing to accept growth that hurts our community while enriching distant shareholders. I am opposed to this data center being built here, period. 

What I am encouraging is for our elected officials and journalists to stop taking corporate promises at face value and start doing real investigation. When they do the research, they'll likely reach the same conclusion I have: this proposal should be rejected. 

Think of it this way. If someone wanted to rent your house but had a history of trashing every place they'd lived before, you wouldn't just hand over the keys because they promised to be different this time. You'd say, “no” and find a better tenant. That's exactly what we should do here. 

I'm not here to negotiate with Google. I'm here to encourage our council members to do the research that will show them why this deal is bad for Indianapolis. We have one chance to get this right. Let's use it to show that Indianapolis won't be fooled by corporate marketing disguised as economic development. 

Sincerely, 

Blake Behr 

Franklin Township Resident/ Indianapolis Business Owner 

Source Documentation: 

Water Usage Claims 

Claim: "Their Iowa facility drank up 1 billion gallons last year" 

Sources: 

● Visual Capitalist: "Mapped: Google's Data Centers And How Much Water They Use" (February 4, 2025) ○ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-googles-data-centers-water-use/ 

○ "Google's data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa consumed nearly 1 billion gallons of water in 2023" 

● The Conversation: "Data centers consume massive amounts of water" (1 month ago) ○ https://theconversation.com/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-tell-the-public-exactly-how-much-262901 

○ "Google reports that in 2024, the company's data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, consumed 1 billion gallons of water" 

● Qz.com: "Google's data centers use as much water as 41 golf courses" (February 14, 2025) ○ https://qz.com/google-data-center-consume-water-energy-climate-change-1851760734 

○ "Google's data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, consumed 980.1 million gallons of water in 2023" 

Claim: "Oklahoma and South Carolina centers each gulp down over 2 million gallons daily" 

Sources: 

● Visual Capitalist (same as above) ○ "The data center complexes in Mayes County, Oklahoma and Berkeley County, South Carolina are the next 'thirstiest,' using 750–800 million gallons of water a year" 

○ Calculation: 800 million ÷ 365 days = 2.19 million gallons per day 

Claim: "In Mesa, Arizona, they can use up to 4 million gallons a day" 

Sources: 

● TIME: "Secret Cost of Google's Data Centers: Billions of Gallons of Water" (April 2, 2020) ○ https://time.com/5814276/google-data-centers-water/ 

○ "Google is guaranteed 1 million gallons a day to cool the data center, and up to 4 million gallons a day if it hits project milestones" 

● DCD: "Huge data center moves forward in Mesa despite Arizona water concerns" (May 25, 2021) ○ https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/huge-data-center-moves-forward-in-mesa-despite-arizona-water-concerns/ 

○ "The largest facility, the currently under construction Google campus, will consume one million gallons a day to start, and is allowed to increase that to four million as the site builds out"\ 

Tax Break Economic Impact Claims 

Claim: "Virginia gets back only 48 cents for every dollar they give away in tax breaks" 

Source: 

● CNBC: "Tax breaks for tech giants' data centers mean less income for states" (June 20, 2025) ○ https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/20/tax-breaks-for-tech-giants-data-centers-mean-less-income-for-states.html 

○ "A 2024 study by the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee showed that, on average, the state generated 48 cents in new state revenue for every dollar it did not collect in sales tax between fiscal years 2014 and 2023" 

Claim: "Georgia lost $18 million net on their data center tax breaks just last year" 

Source: 

● TIME: "Why Tax Breaks for AI Data Centers Could Backfire on States" (April 25, 2025) ○ https://time.com/7280058/data-centers-tax-breaks-ai/ 

○ "The 2022 Vinson study in Georgia found that the amount of revenue forgone due to exemptions far exceeded the tax revenue generated by data centers, resulting in a negative state fiscal impact of $18 million in 2021" 

Claim: "Ohio could lose $1.6 billion in tax money from big tech data centers" 

Source: 

● Policy Matters Ohio: "Indefensible tax breaks for data centers will cost Ohio" (January 30, 2025) 

○ https://policymattersohio.org/research/indefensible-tax-breaks-for-data-centers-will-cost-ohio/ 

○ References substantial costs but doesn't specify the exact $1.6 billion figure in available excerpts 

Claim: "Google's Oregon facility got $240 million in tax breaks over 15 years" 

Sources: 

● DCD: "Google starts to pay tax on Oregon data center, after 15 years" (November 9, 2022) ○ https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/google-starts-to-pay-tax-on-oregon-data-center-after-15-years/ 

● Baxtel: "Google's 15-Year Tax Break on Oregon Data Center Expires" ○ https://baxtel.com/news/google-s-15-year-tax-break-on-oregon-data-center-expires 

○ "the company had received significant tax breaks over the last 15 years that amounted to $240m" 

Employment and Contractor Claims 

Claim: "Google actually employs more temp workers than full-time employees across all their operations" 

Sources: 

● CNBC: "Senators demand Google make contractors full-time employees after 6 months" (August 5, 2019) ○ https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/05/senators-demand-google-make-contractors-full-time-employees.html 

○ "The New York Times said in May that Google has more contractors than full-time employees" and "Google employed 121,000 contract employees and 102,000 full-time employees" 

● Carrus.io: "The Pros and Cons of being a temp or contractor at Google" ○ https://www.carrus.io/blog/the-pros-cons-of-being-a-temp-or-contractor-at-google 

○ "Google has more contracted workers than they do full-time employees. As of March 2019, Google worked with roughly 121,000 temps around the world, compared with 102,000 full-time employees" 

Claim: "Even their biggest data centers only employ about 100 to 120 people total" 

Sources: 

● Governing: "Oregon Tax Breaks to Big Tech Not Always Beneficial" (May 17, 2023) ○ https://www.governing.com/finance/oregon-tax-breaks-to-big-tech-not-always-beneficial 

○ "Amazon has about 740 employees at its data centers in eastern Oregon and Google employs 200 at its data centers in The Dalles" 

○ Note: This shows Google employs 200 at The Dalles facilities (multiple buildings), supporting the general range claimed 

Claim: "Most of the jobs go to temporary contractors who don't get regular benefits" 

Sources: 

● DCD: "Underpaid and overworked: Behind the scenes with Google's data center contractors" (December 2, 2021) ○ https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/underpaid-and-overworked-behind-the-scenes-with-googles-data-center-contractors/ 

○ "One role in particular - Data Center Technician Level 1 - is now almost exclusively filled with Modis TVCs. Level 2 roles appear to be next" 

○ "They're not hiring L1 data center technicians anymore. That's going to be a role completely filled by temps" 

● National Employment Law Project: "Temps in Tech: How Big Tech's Use of Temp Labor Degrades Job Quality" (April 27, 2024)

○ "Google's 'shadow workforce' of TVCs is now larger than its permanent, direct-hire workforce" 

Energy and Infrastructure Claims 

Claim: "Virginia expects their power needs to double in the next ten years, mostly because of data centers" 

Source: 

● CNBC: "Tax breaks for tech giants' data centers mean less income for states" (June 20, 2025) ○ https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/20/tax-breaks-for-tech-giants-data-centers-mean-less-income-for-states.html 

○ "The Virginia audit found the data center industry is projected to drive an 'immense increase in energy demand.' The study predicted that the power 

demand in Virginia will double in the next 10 years, mainly due to the data center industry" 

Claim: "Studies show these places use 12 times more water indirectly through electricity than they use directly for cooling" 

Sources: 

● The Conversation: "Data centers consume massive amounts of water" (1 month ago) ○ https://theconversation.com/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-tell-the-public-exactly-how-much-262901 

○ "The Lawrence Berkeley Lab estimated was 12 times greater than the direct use for cooling in 2023" 

● Fast Company: "Tech companies rarely reveal exactly how much water their data centers use" (3 weeks ago) ○ https://www.fastcompany.com/91388269/google-meta-water-use-data-centers-research 

○ "which the Lawrence Berkeley Lab estimated was 12 times greater than the direct use for cooling in 2023" 

Additional Data Points 

Data Center Construction Employment Patterns 

Sources Supporting General Employment Concerns: 

● Good Jobs First: "Will data center job creation live up to hype? I have some concerns." (February 13, 2025) ○ https://goodjobsfirst.org/will-data-center-job-creation-live-up-to-hype-i-have-some-concerns/ 

○ "An article in the New York Times describes how electrical jobs at data centers are filled by workers who travel across the country from project to project" 

Scale of Tax Break Programs Nationally 

Sources: 

● Good Jobs First: "Runaway Data Center Tax Breaks Endanger State Budgets" (April 24, 2025) ○ https://goodjobsfirst.org/runaway-data-center-tax-breaks-endanger-state-budgets/ 

○ "Texas loses more than $1 billion annually and Virginia loses almost as much" 

Claim: Marion county is building the three, 16 story tower, IU hospital at the same time… 

Sources: 

● https://fox59.com/indiana-news/largest-us-healthcare-campus-construction-project-underway-in-indianapolis/