Matthew Reinbold
Stories & CraftSerial fiction · 5 parts · Complete

The Biggest Little Bill

The Biggest Little Bill is a tech satire and civic noir. It was inspired by an overnight stay in Sparks, NV, during our family’s summer road trip. The Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center (TRI), the world’s largest industrial park, is a real place. The $2 $3.45 $5 trillion capital expenditure on AI infrastructure, and the subsequent impact on local communities, is real. Osirtek’s data center, however, is fictional.

Read the story

5 parts / In order
  1. Part 1
  2. Part 2
  3. Part 3
  4. Part 4
  5. Part 5

Behind the story

The story draws on months of research into data-center development across Nevada, the Dakotas, and New Mexico, including real reporting on water rights disputes, electricity rate hikes, and community outcry against “AI factories”. Karen Hao’s Empire of AI was also an inspiration. The work imagines what happens when one ordinary planner decides to push back.

"Data centres have been treated as part of the AI story, but they've become a story in their own right. There are energy and water demands, community impacts, and questions about whether it really makes sense to be building so many. It increasingly looks like their contribution to higher power bills is posed to become a major issue in the US midterm elections in 2026." - Paris Marx, tech critic, author, and host of the podcast Tech Won't Save Us

Some links for further exploration:

From the original serialization

I’ve spent years writing about the intersection of technology, culture, and policy. When concepts like megawatt and megabyte are reshaping the very places we live, I’m finding that work increasingly relevant.

It is one thing to write an essay here or a newsletter there. Given the potential harms, utilizing adding additional forms, like narrative, seems warranted. The Biggest Little Bill is part tech satire, part civic noir. It’s a reminder that accountability doesn’t just live in boardrooms or algorithms; like all things, it starts with people.

I hope you enjoy this one, and maybe see a bit of your own fight in it. If you’d rather download a collected version of all five parts, use the download link at the top of this page.