From Opposition to Buy-In: Tactics for Data Center Developers
Data Center Knowledge, Friday, October 2nd, 2026
Facing growing community pushback, data center developers are leaning on transparency, grid funding and local benefits.
Data Center Knowledge's Drew Robb reports that local opposition to AI data centers over water, power, noise and rising electricity rates has grown into a cacophony, with some governments imposing bans or moratoria, and sessions at Data Center World Power in Dallas offered tactics for winning support.
Developers are funding battery storage, transmission upgrades, transformers and substations so costs don't fall on ratepayers, and some utilities are formalizing such arrangements.
Hecate Energy's Diane Sullivan urges early transparency and retiring the NDA playbook, and developers are prioritizing sites with supportive residents.