A Scottish Government official has warned there are "clearly significant impacts and risks" from plans to site a number of hyperscale data centres in Scotland, documents released under freedom of information (FoI) laws have revealed.
The deputy director for domestic climate change said there were "various concerns about the way forward", citing concerns about possible impacts on energy bills and on water usage.
The official, whose name was redacted in the released documents, said that depending on the location of data centres "there is a clear risk here that locals bear the brunt of increased electricity prices – or even a shortage of energy, or unreliable power – while seeing little direct benefit from 'hosting' the data centre".
Concerns over energy and water impacts
In the document, which dates back to March, the official added that to mitigate against this "there needs to be a really clear system for protecting locals from increased energy prices and power shortages, as part of a deal to host the centre".
The official also warned of the possible impact from a "water hungry data centre", stating: "The hard fact is that, even taking data centres completely out of the equation, Scotland is facing water shortages in multiple and growing parts of the country, due to climate change.
"Last year, water shortages in some parts of the country started in April – the earliest ever."
As a result, the official cautioned that data centres "could badly impact other water dependent industries and livelihoods".
Community and campaigner backlash
Other papers released under FoI described the "public perception" of planned new data centres as a "strategic risk", prompting campaigners against such developments to criticise the Scottish Government.
One released document said that if the Scottish Government does "not have a clear and tangible evidence to demonstrate the Green benefits of data centre infrastructure in Scotland THEN public perception will be poor and there could be an increase in environmental and social lobbying against data centres and/or significant community opposition of energy infrastructure".
This, it said, would result in objections to planning applications for data centres, with "delays to delivery and reputational damage" to the Scottish Government and a "loss of economic and societal benefits".
Lisa Beacham, of the Hurlford Rufus Data Centre Community Group in Ayrshire, said: "The First Minister and other ministers say that communities must be listened to but these documents tell a different story.
"The Scottish Government is reducing us to a risk to be managed and the words they use in the Parliament and in the newspapers are disingenuous.
"They show nothing but disdain for communities affected by proposals for hyperscale AI data centres."
She added: "Communities campaigning against hyperscale data centres have accumulated a vast amount of knowledge and expertise but are being completely ignored.
"It is evident from this FoI that the Government sees us as a risk rather than an asset with knowledge and expertise to share."
Penny Sinclair, of the Auchtertool Action Group campaigning against plans for a hyperscale data centre in Auchtertool in Fife, also criticised the documents.
She said: "It appears communities like Auchtertool are just an inconvenient risk to be mitigated.
"The endless promise that our voices will be heard has simply come to nothing."
Sarah Matthews, of Edinburgh Against AI Data Centres, said she was "deeply concerned about the Scottish Government's lack of transparency and democratic accountability over hyperscale AI data centre developments".
Her comments came as she insisted the papers showed a "clear imbalance of the level of engagement given to communities and developers".
Government response and next steps
The FoI documents contained a number of contacts between the Scottish Government over its plans for a green data centre charter – which aims to set out "clear, referenced principles" for data centres with regards to electricity use, water, energy efficiency and heat "with the aim of providing greater certainty and consistency in how proposals are understood and assessed".
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The Scottish Government will be publishing new planning guidance on data centres before the end of the year, and the minister for public finance has already committed to keep the Parliament informed.
"Planning authorities are also now required to notify ministers of new data centre applications, with a new planning direction also mandating an environmental impact assessment to be submitted during planning for all new data centres with a power capacity exceeding 50 megawatts."
