InnovateUS 
Data centers are arriving in communities faster than most local governments can evaluate them.
Every site and every community is different, but the decisions being made right now, about water allocations, tax incentives, permitting, and who has the authority to say yes or no, will shape a community's relationship with AI infrastructure for years to come.
The stakes are hard to see coming: the water and energy demands stay invisible until the meters start running, nobody outside the room knows whether the planning commission or the governing body actually holds the decision, and by the time residents hear about a project, many decisions have already been made.
As this week's curator of News That Caught Our Eye, I'm sharing the latest resources available to help public officials think through a proposed data center. Every AI data center and every community is different. These resources provide the tools to help each community think through its decisions about an AI data center, often in a challenging environment.
Reading List
1. Key Considerations for Data Center Development, Bipartisan Policy Center, July 29, 2026
2. Data Centers: A Guide to Common Questions, Penn State Extension, April 2, 2026
3. ECOS Green Report: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Protection, Environmental Council of the States, June 12, 2026
4. Data Centers and the Climate Landscape: An Actionable Resource for US Mayors, Climate Mayors
5. Before Breaking Ground: A Local Government Guide to Better Data Center Policy and Community Benefits, Federation of American Scientists, September 10, 2026
6. Pennsylvania Data Center Planning Toolkit, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, May 27, 2026
7. Artificial Intelligence Legislation Database, National Conference of State Legislatures
8. Ten Things to Know About Data Centers, InnovateUS, May 14, 2026
Start With the Right Questions
The best way to approach a data center proposal is with a list of questions for the developer. The Bipartisan Policy Center's new report distills community decision-making into five considerations, with particular emphasis on transparency and the communication decision-makers should expect from developers before a project moves forward. ("Key Considerations for Data Center Development," Bipartisan Policy Center, July 29, 2026).
Penn State Extension's guide goes a level deeper, walking through the specifics communities could ask about depending on their community’s concerns. For example, a community in the dry southwest might be concerned about where a facility's water will come from and whether non-potable water is an option. Communities can also ask those questions directly of a developer as opening terms for what they're willing to negotiate on community concerns like energy use and affordability, noise, air pollution, traffic, and aesthetics. ("Data Centers: A Guide to Common Questions," Penn State Extension, April 2, 2026).
AI Can Help the Environment, Not Just Strain It
Many data center conversations focus on energy and environmental issues. What gets discussed far less is how AI itself can be turned toward responding to a community's energy and environmental concerns.. For example, New Mexico is piloting a program to detect water pipeline leaks with AI tools. The Environmental Council of the States finds 37 state environmental agencies already preparing for or using AI tools, including for permitting, a use case worth watching as more states look for ways to move faster without cutting review corners. ("ECOS Green Report: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Protection," ECOS, June 12, 2026).
What Other Communities Have Already Negotiated
Every community weighing a data center is implicitly being asked to develop local policy that responds to community concerns. Seeing what other cities and states have already worked out provides a starting point for discussion, reducing the effort and time needed to develop policies. Climate Mayors includes real examples from specific cities and states rather than abstract principles. ("Data Centers and the Climate Landscape: An Actionable Resource for US Mayors," Climate Mayors).
The Federation of American Scientists went further this month with a full catalog of what local governments are already doing, comparing ordinances, tax valuation approaches, and ten community benefit frameworks side by side. It's the closest thing available to a model library for communities. ("Before Breaking Ground: A Local Government Guide to Better Data Center Policy and Community Benefits," FAS, September 10, 2026).
Governance Is a Local Decision, and Ellendale Proves It
Sometimes local citizens are confused over who has the authority to decide about AI data centers. Pennsylvania's toolkit is useful precisely because it spells out the different responsibilities of a planning commission versus a governing body, a distinction that may matter for a community trying to figure out where in local government a given decision gets made. ("Pennsylvania Data Center Planning Toolkit," PA Department of Community & Economic Development, May 27, 2026).
For a sense of what's at stake in dollar terms, Ellendale, North Dakota, has done something few communities have: it analyzed both the fiscal impacts of a recently constructed data center with before-and-after information on, for example, city sales tax revenue. I presented that case study, drawn from Ellendale's own analysis, in a recent InnovateUS webinar, and it remains one of the only examples I've seen of a community doing the analysis instead of relying on assumptions. ("Ten Things to Know About Data Centers," InnovateUS case study, May 14, 2026).
What’s happening in state legislatures
The National Conference of State Legislatures maintains the most useful running record of how states are legislating around AI, including data centers and the application of AI. It's searchable by topic (labor, elections, energy, among others) and by state. So a community can see what has occurred, proposed, or is actively being discussed in its own state or borrow model legislation from another to create its own state or local policy. ("Artificial Intelligence Legislation Database," NCSL).
More From InnovateUS This Fall
InnovateUS has three sessions running this month building directly on this material:
"AI, Data Centers, and Growing Resource Demands," September 10, 2026
"Using AI to Improve Energy and Environmental Systems," September 17, 2026
"Policy Choices, Investment Strategies, and Governance," September 24, 2026
Over the summer, our Elephants in the AI Room series covered the questions communities ask most and answer least: workforce displacement, energy and environmental tradeoffs, and disability issues in AI deployment.
In March, I hosted a webinar on Ten Things to Know About Data Centers that covered the pros and cons of many data center-related issues. It concludes with a list of questions policymakers can ask when an AI data center considers coming to their town.
All these sessions are free for public professionals.