Data centers do one thing very well: consume. They take power, water, and energy off the grid, and they don’t stop.
“That data center is going to continue consuming resources forever,” says Shawn Cutter, founder and CEO of EnergiAcres. “You’re stuck with that design, and you’re also stuck waiting for the power to show up.”
Since every data center and household needs power, that wait is getting longer. The only way to get in front of that, Cutter says, is to control and vertically integrate the power yourself.
“You have to control your own destiny by building with precision and efficiency,” he says. “You also have to build these to have an impact on the community.”
That’s what makes EnergiAcres’ approach stand out: Its circular energy model powers the community by leveraging waste heat for food production and on-site power generation rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.
The circular energy model
Cutter compares his energy model to a running car.
“It’s like using the exhaust and heat from the engine in your car,” he says. “We have a way of filtering that, grabbing it, and using it for other things nearby.”
But data centers are much larger than car engines. He’s using the methane data centers burn before it enters the atmosphere to power food production systems like greenhouses and indoor farms.
“All our projects have a central theme of building our own power plants or microgrids to power data centers,” he says. “That’s the real economic unlock.”
EnergiAcres’ primary goal is to reduce food miles, or the total distance that food travels from a farm to the final consumer. But in the future, Cutter aims to expand into cold storage, distribution, and industrial manufacturing.
Since so many industries need energy to operate, letting it go to waste doesn’t make economic sense. Data centers don’t turn off, so how much energy is going to waste every day across the country?
“We need to think about how we can leverage energy to make data centers as efficient as possible,” Cutter explains. “If we do all this work to get energy to power these data centers, we can’t let half of it vent into the atmosphere immediately.”
On paper, EnergiAcres’ approach is more logical (and sustainable) than the energy model data centers use today. Rather than pulling power from the traditional electric grid, EnergiAcres’ microgrids are powered by heat energy that wouldn’t be used otherwise.
Why aren’t more data centers conserving energy?
Since data centers are complex systems, they’re hesitant to try new technology or find alternative uses for their waste energy. The technologies used in data centers are known, and finding experienced people who know how to use them is difficult.
“We’re fighting a lot of dogma that the current way data centers are running is how they’ve always run,” he says. “But I have found that a lot of data centers are open and willing to talk about it.”
Cutter knows the challenges ahead. Projects of this size are new, little is known about them, and they’re popping up everywhere. In order to get other data centers (and communities) on board, the messaging needs to be clear.
“We don’t agree with how data centers are built either, but we need to separate fact from fiction,” he says. “The models are changing, and data center industries are doing a bad job of communicating that.”
But what does EnergiAcres’ model look like in practice, and how does Cutter decide where to start a project?
Nearly two years ago, he set his sights on a city in Ohio. The project is still in its early stages, but understanding why he chose this area specifically and the challenges he’s experienced along the way tells the story.
The Ohio project
Cutter takes an energy-first approach, meaning he finds a location with a solid energy source and works backward from that.
“Once we have that, we look at a variety of factors and score projects,” he explains. “Eventually, you have to pick a spot where you’re going to put a lot of time, effort, and capital into to make that project happen.”
In this location, he has plenty of energy to draw from and land to work with. He also works closely with landowners whose support confirms that the project is viable.
Although the project is still in its planning and design phase, Cutter has been working with Energy Transfer, the energy company that operates the 711-mile Rover Pipeline that runs through the Ohio city. Even with credible partners onboard, more groundwork needs to be done before the project progresses. “We have to do environmental studies, surveys, and engineering plans before we move forward,” he explains.
Community skepticism is part of the challenge, too. At a public meeting, he took questions about the project from 100 local residents. During the meeting, many voiced their concerns about noise, pollution, and decreased property value.
These tentpoles of opposition have become nearly universal as the latest wave of data centers has sprung up around the U.S. in the past few years. The EnergiAcres approach is designed to address those concerns directly.
Changing the narrative
Overconsumption of energy and water has given data centers a reputation problem. If they’re going to stick around—and there’s no sign of data centers powering down any time soon—that needs to change.
“I come from oil and gas, and they got a lot of bad press during the shale boom in the 2000s,” Cutter explains. “What’s happening with data centers is even more negative than what happened in oil and gas.”
For the growth in consumer tech (like LLMs) to continue, the growth in data centers must continue, and so the narrative needs to shift. If a data center comes to a town, residents will want to expect upgraded infrastructure and more jobs. “This much construction, precision, and skilled labor means that people will have work in town for your kids, your kids’ kids, and beyond,” he says, painting a picture of what future data center development could look like.
That’s what Cutter is betting on in the Ohio project. And if everything goes how he expects it to, it won’t be the last stop on his list.
