Google says it can build data centers the right way. Some experts and residents are skeptical

If there's one thing most Americans can agree on, it's that they don't want a data center in their backyard. A Gallup survey conducted in March found that 71% of Americans opposed the construction of a data center in their local area. Chief among their concerns: energy usage. Half of Americans surveyed by Pew Research Center in July and August said data centers would be mostly bad for the environment and for household energy costs.Now Google is betting that a massive AI data center can help finance a cleaner, more reliable power grid. Its proposed deal with Xcel Energy would add more wind, solar and battery capacity than the data center is expected to use. Under the agreement, Google would help pay for the added capacity and continue paying, even if it doesn't use all of the power.Google's bet that AI can finance a cleaner grid Pine Island, Minnesota, is a small town of about 4,000 residents an hour southeast of Minneapolis. Google hopes that its new 780-megawatt data center plan will build goodwill with the Pine Island community and keep the company on track to meet its goal of operating on carbon-free energy, 24 hours a day, seven days a week by 2030.Google — whose cloud business...