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The Bill Comes Due
How the AI infrastructure boom is being built on economic sand, and what that means for the communities asked to absorb its costs
Jun 2
•
Colin Mellars
6
2
3
May 2026
Measuring the Wrong Sound
Why the standard noise test used in most local ordinances misses almost everything a data center actually produces.
May 30
•
Colin Mellars
7
5
5
The Loophole in the Water Wall
How Arizona Law Turns Municipal Refusals Into Groundwater Permits
May 28
•
Colin Mellars
5
4
Before the Forum
What to Listen For When Marana Candidates Talk About Development, Revenue, and the Pattern Voters Keep Noticing
May 21
•
Colin Mellars
6
2
When the Numbers Do Not Add Up:
A Technical Reading of the Vineland Data Center EIS
May 18
•
Colin Mellars
5
1
When the Servers Move In
A Field Guide for Residents and Advocates Confronting Hyperscale Data Center Development
May 16
•
Colin Mellars
8
3
1
The Data Center Boom Is a Bet on Revenue That Doesn’t Exist Yet
A technical look at the infrastructure cycle, the scaling law problem, and what happens if the revenue doesn’t show up.
May 14
•
Colin Mellars
3
When Common Zoning Tools Fail At Scale
Why regulators need to shift their thinking on historical tools for managing industrial projects.
May 12
•
Colin Mellars
4
2
Support for Surprise, AZ
Technical Brief Supporting Resident Pushback in Surprise
May 7
•
Colin Mellars
1
5
A Rebuttal to the Goldwater Institute’s Data Center Playbook
Technical analysis of the talking points.
May 5
•
Colin Mellars
13
8
2
The Closed Loop Cooling Chemistry Problem
Closed-Loop Cooling and the Upper Santa Cruz Watershed
May 2
•
Colin Mellars
6
11
2
April 2026
Cooling Tower Loop Hole
A critical gap in Marana's current ordinance structure
Apr 30
•
Colin Mellars
3
4
1
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