Resources to help you cover data centers in your community

Updated October 23, 2026

As data centers are being built in more U.S. localities to meet demand for AI technology, they are consuming massive amounts of energy, contributing to rising electricity costs for consumers, and driving debates about land use. A range of data sources and types of expertise can deepen your coverage of these centers and how they will impact your community.

Data center basics:

• SciLine hosted media briefings about local implications and planning of data centers, and the recordings and transcripts are available for use in stories.
• Data Center Map shows existing and planned data centers.
• In June, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published a report on U.S. data centers’ energy use that projects data centers may account for 11.8% of U.S. electricity use by 2030, compared to 4.7% in 2024.
• This PolitiFact fact check from June explains that data centers are one of the causes of higher U.S. electricity costs for consumers, showing the percentage rise in each state over the last 5 years. It refers to an April report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on electricity prices and drivers that includes state and national trends.
• Pew Research Center polling from July and August found that Americans’ views of data centers have become more negative, and an October analysis from Pew answers common questions about data centers.
• The National Conference of State Legislatures published a state-by-state list of the tax incentives for data centers.
• Research estimated the global carbon and water footprints of AI data centers and modeled potential carbon and water footprints of U.S. AI servers through 2030.
• Find common industry narratives and a range of potential story directions in this guide to investigating data centers’ impacts from the Pulitzer Center.
• A Congressional Research Service report from July answers common questions about U.S. data centers and water.

Angles for your reporting:

• Community impacts: The World Resources Institute outlines local consequences of data centers in a February report, including local water demand, air pollution, and noise.
• Tax revenue: Data centers are often large sources of tax revenue in localities where they’re concentrated. For example, the tax revenue from data centers in Loudoun County, Virginia, allowed the county to lower the property tax rate for homeowners every year for the past decade, according to the county’s site.
• Jobs: The U.S. Census Bureau’s QWI Explorer tracks growth in the 5182 industry group (a job category including data processing, web hosting, and related services that economists have used to study data center employment). For example, the tool can show your county’s percentage of state job growth in this category. NPR reporting noted that data center construction employs many people, but fewer jobs are needed to keep them running.
• Rising electricity costs: Data centers are inflating consumer energy bills, according to New York Times reporting. Average revenue per kilowatt-hour in each state is tracked monthly by the Energy Information Administration to give an idea of electricity prices, but many factors influence prices.
• Strain on the grid: The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s January 2026 report deems five of 13 assessment areas on the continent to be high-risk over the coming five years, citing data centers as a major cause of energy demand increases.
• Lessons from Virginia: The Old Dominion, home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, offers lessons on how a local data center boom can impact a community. For example, research explores the health implications of Virginia data centers.