New Analysis Dispels Myths About Data Center Noise

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kara Zupkus (224) 456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) released a new brief,  “Drowning Out the Noise on Data Centers,” analyzing the acoustic profile of data center operations and debunking myths about data centers being excessively noisy.

Claims that data centers operate at harmfully loud decibel levels have proliferated recently and have been a key component in recent lawsuits and state and local efforts to restrict data center projects.

The brief finds that these claims are largely unsupported by evidence:

• According to an extensive 2024 review by the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), noise from data centers—even at facilities that have generated resident complaints—is generally comparable to ordinary background sounds and substantially quieter than many common activities.
• Noise levels associated with data centers are closer to the quiet ambient sounds experienced in residential and institutional settings, such as libraries (around 30 decibels), than to sounds considered harmful to human hearing.
• A Sound Impact Assessment (SIA) prepared for Project Tango, a 202-acre hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) data center campus proposed for development in Loxahatchee, Florida, supports JLARC’s findings.
• The SIA concludes that the project sits not only below strict municipal sound caps but well within the existing ambient day-night background soundscape of the community.

Ross Marchand, Executive Director of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, offered the following comment:

“There is no shortage of noise being generated around data centers by project critics spouting misinformation. The notion of noisy data centers is convenient for trial lawyers but manipulating people with false claims harms the residents who will benefit from the jobs and higher salaries that come with data center projects. This brief demonstrates that data centers are often quieter than other industrial projects or even parks or roads. Hopefully, policymakers make informed decisions about data centers and reject the many falsehoods surrounding these projects.”

Read the full brief below.

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The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis, and dissemination of information on the government’s impact on the economy.