Guide for voters, lawmakers, non-profits on data center advocacy
On Tuesday, Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) launched DataCenterPlaybook.org, a website including field guides for voters, lawmakers, county officials, and non-profits interested in engaging with data center siting decisions in their communities. The advocacy guides include examples of where residents and lawmakers have successfully used levers available to them to increase transparency around data center agreements, secure local benefits, or guard against agreements that don’t serve the public. The website also includes research exploring the economic costs and benefits of data center build outs to educate stakeholders.
See the new stakeholder guides and research at DataCenterPlaybook.org.
“Voters across the country are upset because a nationwide buildout of data centers is changing their communities without room for their input, and often with very little transparency,” said ARI President Brad Carson. “We need to equip communities to make the best decisions for residents about data center siting, and that means putting advocacy tools in the hands of local officials and voters. The more information they have, the more they know about the leverage they hold, the more benefits they will see. Without transparency and local engagement, communities will be left bearing the costs of data center decisions they had no say in.”
The playbook finds data centers can generate substantial tax revenue and jobs, but only when governments require transparency, make developers pay for the infrastructure they need, and secure enforceable community benefits. Poorly managed data center development poses risks including raising electricity costs, threatening grid reliability, and exposing communities to noise and air pollution, while secretive deals and generous tax exemptions can prevent residents from receiving the promised economic benefits.
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Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy advocacy in the public interest, focused on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Learn more at www.ari.us.