Meta published an interview with VP of Data Centers Rachel Peterson amid rising backlash over its massive data center developments across the U.S. In the 16-minute clip, Peterson laid out the benefits of expansion and how Meta says it wants to benefit local economies.
Peterson started with Meta's goal of "personal superintelligence" for everyone, which she described as "having the utmost experts who understand your unique preferences, your unique ways of wanting to operate, that is personalized to you, that makes you the most effective and efficient person that you can be." Delivering that at scale requires enormous processing capacity — hence the buildout. Meta has committed more than $600 billion to U.S. data center projects over the next three years, and Peterson said most of that development work began in the past two years.
Some regions have taken real damage. In Morgan County, Georgia, Meta's data center works led to water contamination and utilities impacts, prompting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to call for limits on development. In Fayetteville, Georgia, Politico reported an AI infrastructure project drained 30 million gallons of unmetered water. In Northern Virginia, data center projects in Loudoun and Fairfax counties used nearly 2 billion gallons of water in 2023, per The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, pushing local water authorities toward potable rather than reclaimed water for cooling.
Public opinion has moved accordingly. Per a recent Time report, only a third of Americans approve of the pace of data center development. More than 300 cities, towns and counties have enacted bans or moratoriums on hyperscale construction, and a national day of protest on July 18 saw 142 protests across 42 states.
Peterson said site assessment weighs power, water, labor availability and more to find where construction can be most efficient. On community involvement, she said a location "has to be a place where we're going to put our roots down for 20 years, and that means we want to be part of the community." Meta says it works to restore more water than it consumes and coordinates with grid providers to minimize impacts on residents.
On cost, she pushed back directly: "I think this is a misconception that people may have of us and other data centers coming in and taking more than their fair share, [and] passing on costs, when in reality, our investments are oftentimes helping the electric grid bring reliability and consuming costs that otherwise would have been passed onto everyday residential consumers." She added that Meta's facilities are designed as closed-loop systems that do not discharge waste, with water usage that is "pretty minimal."
The interview is part of a broader PR push. In June, Meta launched America's Workforce Academy, partnering with construction-related organizations to provide training and placement in regions where it is building infrastructure.
Structurally, the rebuttal moves the argument from aggregate spend to local benefit — grid reliability, training, jobs — and answers water with an engineering explanation. That is a coherent play, but individual documented incidents remain on the record, and one interview does not reset them. For the pattern of how the company responds when regulatory and public pressure stack up, read alongside Meta Fined $567M Over Teen Safety — and Ordered to Cap Usage at 90 Hours a Month.
More than $600 billion committed to U.S. data center projects over the next three years, with most current development initiated in the past two years.
Water use and utility impacts. A project in Fayetteville, Georgia drained 30 million gallons of unmetered water, and Northern Virginia data centers used nearly 2 billion gallons in 2023.
Only about a third of Americans approve of the current pace of development, more than 300 localities have passed bans or moratoriums, and 142 protests took place across 42 states on July 18.
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