The Data Center Development Playbook
Today we are releasing The Data Center Development Playbook, which is the latest installment of our Democratic AI Opportunity Agenda, a series of policy ideas, frameworks, and proposals to ensure that the future of artificial intelligence betters our economy and community writ large.
The playbook focuses on the current state of the AI build out and the influx of data center construction across the country. To ensure future construction benefits the communities, we drafted four standards to get this right:
1. No subsidies for data centers. Hyperscalers can finance their own facilities. Public dollars should fund shared grid improvements that lower costs for everyone.
2. Bring, build, or buy your own power. New data centers should cover the generation and grid capacity their demand requires—not shift those costs to households. The principle is simple: whoever creates the demand pays to meet it.
3. Closed-loop water. Cooling systems should minimize local water withdrawals through recirculation. Set clear performance standards and let developers choose the technology.
4. Community benefits before construction. Enforceable, transparent agreements should address issues such as noise, water use, local hiring, wages, penalties, and decommissioning before projects break ground.
Data center construction has been a patchwork of one-off projects with conflicting agreements and community input. Democrats need a framework they can support that builds the infrastructure America needs while making sure workers, ratepayers, and host communities get a fair deal.
Data centers can bring jobs, tax revenue, and major new investment. But communities should not have to subsidize the facilities, absorb the cost of new power demand, or negotiate protections from scratch.
Read the The Data Center Development Playbook in full here.