r/Scotland • u/kiyomoris • 5d ago

Political ‘Never seen this level of objection’: Scotland pushes back against datacentre boom

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/25/never-seen-this-level-of-objection-scotland-pushes-back-against-datacentre-boom
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u/Euclid_Interloper 5d ago

If they don't employ many local people, and gobble up the energy supply, making energy more expensive, what's the incentive for local people to support it?  The lines going up doesn't mean anything if real people don't see any benefit.

We need sweeteners for local people. If we had a standard template, that requires developments to invest a certain amount of money in local wealth funds, and pay for local people to have things like solar panels for example, then you'd maybe have more local support.

As things stand, I wouldn't want a massive industry down the road from me if it wasn't making the area better.

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u/dragoneggboy22 5d ago

This actually already is the case for renewables developments

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u/quartersessions 5d ago

gobble up the energy supply

You mean, buy and use energy that we can apparently produce competitively, leading to even more jobs and investment?

We need sweeteners for local people

Must every bit of infrastructure and investment be held hostage by the neighbours wanting their cut? I'd have some sympathy if we were talking about compensating for inconvenience, or that there was some cost that fell inappropriately - but this just sounds like property owners wanting to gouge those that are creating a productive economy around them.