It’s been said that those who do not learn from the history are doomed to repeat it.

That said, there are three particular experiences I’ve lived through that created challenging times. Obviously, they were nothing like our forefathers endured such as The Great Depression or World War II. But, nonetheless, they were harsh.

These were the great Northeast power blackout of 1965, the 1970s gas crisis and the several significant droughts that resulted in water rationing rules and, in some cases, drinking water supplies nearing depletion.

Natural occurrences can cause any of the above, especially drought. We’ve seen significant ice storms cause widespread power outages.

If I were to list a fourth disaster I’ve been through, it would be the 1955 flood of Weissport, which forced the evacuation of the entire town. That was caused by a rainfall anomaly just like the one that occurred in Wilkes-Barre and much of the rest of Pennsylvania after Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972. Fortunately, dams were built after Diane and spared Weissport any local devastation by Agnes.

First, let’s address the blackout. It was a widespread phenomenon that affected millions of people in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, parts of New England and even portions of Canada. Without going into technical detail, it was caused by some type of malfunction in the massive power grid covering that area and lasted 13 hours.

While power outages in localized regions occur from storms and more confined situations, the magnitude of the 1965 outage was consequential.

With the surge of data centers throughout the country, the strain on the power grid is concerning. I admit I don’t know enough about data centers to form an opinion pro or con, or even understand their purpose, but I am a bit worried.

A Department of Energy report indicates that the United States could face significant power shortages by 2030 if the closure of existing coal and natural gas-fired generation facilities continues amid huge growth in electricity demand from data centers to power artificial intelligence.

According to the agency, if the current plan continues, blackouts across the country would increase by 100 times, says the Institute for Energy Research.

The agency sees weeks of power shortages in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia by 2030, resulting from power plant closures and data center expansion. Under the most severe weather conditions, based on history, power shortages in the area could total more than a month over the course of a year, according to the institute.

DataOne is building a massive AI data center in southern New Jersey. This is what a newspaper reported:

“Most of the data centers that are built today suck big time,” DataOne CEO Charles-Antoine Beyney said during a meeting with Vineland residents in January. “They pollute. They are extremely not efficient. This is clearly not what we are building here.”

Unlike other data centers that consume millions of gallons of water or drain surrounding electrical grids, DataOne will do neither, Beyney claims.

And, the company will pay millions of dollars in taxes to Vineland and deliver dozens of high-paying tech jobs for years to come, he said.

Is this fact or is it just an unfair knock on the competition? Either way, everything points to the need for improving our power grid immediately.

As concerning as the potential drain of electricity by data centers is, so is the worry regarding water usage by the centers.

Much of Pennsylvania is currently in a drought, although not as severe as some of those in the past. There was one in 1980 that caused such desperate measures like those that occurred in Jim Thorpe and Ashland, where their municipal water supplies were in such jeopardy that they engaged a dowser to locate new wells.

Dowsing is an old custom of using a divining rod to locate a water supply.

Is there enough planning to keep our needed water supplies intact when these data centers are constructed?

Off this subject, the final concern is: With the situation in the Middle East, are we going to face another gas crisis like we did in the 1970s?

In the ’70s, the situation was so bad that people were only allowed to fill their vehicle with gasoline on odd or even days, depending on the final number on their license plates.

Lines of vehicles several blocks long formed before gas stations even opened so people were assured of buying the fuel before the stations ran out.

Inconveniences are one thing. Being put in a difficult spot by failing to heed the signs leading up to it is foolhardiness.