Model Local Law: A Framework for Responsible Data Center Development Model State Law for Data Centers – Creating Low Emissions, Accountability, and New Generation Rules for Infrastructure and Data Center (CLEAN GRID) Act. In the past several years, data centers have rapidly proliferated in communities around the country and have […]
Blog Series: Data Center Regulation at the Local Level
5 posts
The market for artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly growing, spurring the growth of data centers across the U.S. and around the world. That’s happening despite the major social and environmental concerns that data centers pose. What happens if those data centers are no longer used, either because they reach end […]
The proliferation of data centers across the United States represents new “loads” (i.e., sources of demand) on the electrical grid. Data centers require enormous amounts of energy to power and cool their computing systems that operate continuously or near-continuously. To meet this demand, new energy infrastructure—both generation and transmission—will need […]
Data center development and its climate, environmental, and energy impacts have emerged as a central and hotly debated issue facing local governments in 2026. Various studies have explored, among other things, the large amounts of land required for data centers; their immense use of energy and water ; their greenhouse gas […]
Rapid data center development is challenging local governments’ ability to manage the environmental challenges these facilities raise. Cities, towns, and counties are facing both uncertainty about the scope of those impacts and growing opposition to data centers from residents. In response, many are turning to temporary moratoria to pause data […]