Data centers face a public backlash. Developers say they can win back support

Public opinion on data centers is majority negative — but, these data center developers think they can turn the tides.

A May Gallup poll said 48 percent of Americans “strongly oppose” AI data centers. Another Gallup poll published in September found only 36 percent of Americans believed AI would “mostly help” the country.

“I think it’s important to understand why polls are returning the results that they’re returning,” Tag Greason, co-chief executive officer of data center developer QTS, said Wednesday during the panel, “The Social License Crisis: Can Data Centers Win Back the Public?” at Yotta, a large-scale conference on digital infrastructure, data centers and AI held Sept. 28-30 at Caesars Forum. The conference was expected to draw 6,000 attendees.

In the past, the data center industry was shrouded in mystery and nondisclosure agreements, especially hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, said Greason and fellow panelist Chris Crosby, founder and CEO of developer Compass Datacenters.

Five years ago, companies used to buy the plot of land, ask for the power to be turned on, start building, order the supply chain, turn it over to the customer, hold a ribbon cutting and then, finally, meet the mayor for the first time, Greason, who has been in the data center industry for over 20 years, said.

“If we did that today, we would be crucified,” he said. “You have to do land, power, supply chain, labor, and community engagement three years before you even think about a project coming out of the ground in any of these communities.”

In order to change the tides and win back social license, Crosby said they need to “raise the bar as quickly as possible.”

At QTS and Compass, the developers have made four commitments for “responsible development.”

The first is community benefits. Aside from tax revenue to the city, they are giving back dollar amounts.

For example, Compass committed over $110,000 to shade an outdoor court in El Mirage, Arizona, where the company has planned a 108-megawatt data center.

“One community might need a police station. One county needs school investments, and they have gas. You’re working within those communities to do it,” said Crosby.

The second is to prioritize water conservation, a key concern of many communities, especially in Nevada.

QTS launched a $1 billion “global water stewardship pledge to help achieve the company’s goal of becoming water positive by 2035,” said a press release from the company.

In the past, data centers used evaporative systems, which used evaporated water to cool the hardware. Now they use closed loop systems, which recirculates liquid coolant to be reused throughout the center’s lifespan.

Third, is energy costs. Developers like QTS and Compass have pledged to pay for all project-related costs for power generation and transmission. Additionally, they are working with utility companies to provide a 10 percent reduction in utility bills for the lifetime of the project.

Finally, avoid secrecy. No NDAs and no private meetings.

However, QTS, owned by Blackstone, recently landed itself in controversy in Clinton, Iowa, according to The Atlantic. QTS was meeting with officials privately on behalf of an anonymous client and even had a code name for the project: Saturday River.

That proposed data center is anticipated to bring $200 million in property taxes in the first 10 years, but still faces pushback from its rural neighbors.

Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.