By Simon JessopLONDON, June 23 (Reuters) – Mayors from 40 cities, including London, Phoenix and Melbourne, have agreed to work together to curb the growing strain the rapid growth in data centres is placing on electricity grids, water supplies and local communities, city leaders said.A global surge in demand for computing power, much of it connected to artificial intelligence, is driving trillions of dollars in investment in new sites, sparking protests in countries from the United States to South Africa and Britain.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Global Urban Data Centres Pact, due to be launched on Tuesday at London Climate Action Week, aims to set standards to ensure data centres use clean energy and all resources more efficiently, and are better integrated into urban planning, mayors from Phoenix and Melbourne told Reuters.While the rules will be adapted to local conditions — cooling needs in Iceland differ from those in Manila — the mayors said the framework is meant to guide permitting and planning decisions, as well as negotiations with companies and governments.Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said around 50 major data centres already operate in the city and were projected to account for roughly 10% of local power demand by 2030 and as much as 20% by 2040 in a city of 5.5 million people.”Data centres are the biggest thing to hit the energy grid since air conditioning in the 1950s… where the rollout of air conditioning took decades, this is happening in a few short years,” Reece said.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe centres could use …
