Elected officials see angry voters cram into local meeting rooms and line streets to oppose data centers and feel an irresistible urge to cater to the populist anger. The next thing they do is hit the pause button.
However, leadership requires thinking through consequences. Moratoria on new data center construction will arrest innovation, cede the future of artificial intelligence to Beijing, and threaten our national security. Blanket opposition deprives hardworking Americans of hundreds of millions of dollars in future wages per year. It shackles the most vibrant sector in commercial construction and eliminates a tax revenue lifeline that is currently funding local police departments, roads, and teacher salaries in counties across the nation.
If Democrats want to regain the trust of the American people, we must have a defined vision for the future that brings prosperity to all â not just the ultra-rich â and we have to be for something not just saying, “No.” We need to offer a constructive solution that doesn’t succumb to fearmongering, and prove that the party of the New Deal, the Great Society and the Apollo program is the party of solutions and sound policy, not demagoguery.
FROM NEW YORK TO TEXAS, STATES SHOULD RESPECT LOCAL CONTROL ON DATA CENTERS
Today, our partys message is controlled by a vocal minority who dont understand â or perhaps care â about the facts. In New York State in July, for instance, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul imposed a statewide moratorium on new data center construction. A growing number of local jurisdictions are taking similar action. In Congress, Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are proposing a national moratorium.
Have they considered that without data centers, the internet, their path to fame and national stature, is essentially useless? The tech industry would collapse and the economy would enter a tailspin. In lieu of letting states lead the way with blunt-force moratoria, we should develop national- or state-level Centers of Excellence that would provide every county board and municipal zoning authority the knowledge to make informed, transparent decisions. Those local governing bodies should absolutely listen to their constituents, be mindful of their many concerns, but above all, they need to give as much weight to facts as to emotions.
Consider the controversy over electricity prices. It isnt data centers driving up residential rates but a combination of issues with our aging power grid, President Donald Trumps pointless war in Iran, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The data center industry has agreed to supply its own power or pay for grid upgrades. The White Houses Ratepayer Protection Pledge now has 200 signatories resolving to find policy solutions. If data center and technology companies want to pay for the grid upgrades, let them.
Multiple studies show that under a well-designed rate policy, such as the new rate for Virginias Dominion Energy large-load customers, data centers pay as much or more in fees than the cost of the energy they consume, precluding the need for rate hikes while providing ext
