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The Data Center Accountability Project

AI needs good neighbors.

AI is transforming America. The data centers powering that transformation require electricity, water, land, infrastructure and communities willing to host them.

American Public Voice believes those communities deserve information, transparency and a meaningful voice in decisions that affect them.

See the impactTake the Public Voice Survey

What makes a good neighbor?

We need your help now.

Data center decisions are being made this fall in county chambers and utility dockets across the country. Your contribution puts sourced information, a public survey and a project-by-project record in front of the people who will live with them.

Contribute to American Public VoicePaid for by American Public Voice PAC. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
Ask the people.Measure the impact.Publish the results.

Infrastructure

The AI boom is also an infrastructure boom.

AI doesn't exist only in the cloud. It runs inside physical infrastructure: large facilities full of servers that must be powered, cooled, connected and maintained around the clock.

Those requirements can create benefits. They can also create costs. Communities deserve to understand both.

What a data center needs

PowerContinuous electricity, often at utility scale
LandLarge parcels, buffers and corridors
Water or coolingCooling that uses water, electricity or both
TransmissionLines and substations to reach the site
Backup generationOn-site generators for outages and testing
RoadsConstruction traffic and ongoing access
ConstructionA multi-year build with a large crew
WorkersTrades during the build; technicians after
Utility capacityPlanning and rate decisions that affect everyone

The full picture

The good. The bad. The ugly.

A data center is neither automatically a benefit nor automatically a burden. What it brings depends on the project, the site, the utility, the agreements and the process. This is how we sort it out.

The Good

What a well-planned project can bring.

  • Potential economic activity
  • Construction
  • Jobs
  • Tax revenue
  • Infrastructure investment
  • Technology investment
  • Community investment
Explore the good

The Bad

Growth has costs. Communities should know what they are.

Potential pressure on:

  • Electricity infrastructure
  • Water resources
  • Land
  • Roads
  • Local planning
  • Noise
  • Community character
Understand the costs

The Ugly

What a bad deal can cost a town.

Problems become more serious when major infrastructure decisions occur without:

  • Transparency
  • Public information
  • Meaningful community participation
  • Clear commitments
  • Measurement
  • Long-term accountability
See the community costs
How we label claimsWe do not assume every data center creates these effects. Every claim on this site is labeled so readers know what kind of claim it is.
Possible impactCould occur, depending on the project.
Documented impactRecorded in a cited public source.
Project-specific impactTied to a named facility and its records.
Community concernRaised by residents; not yet measured.

Public voice

Ask the people. Measure the impact. Publish the results.

Data-center decisions are usually discussed by developers, utilities, elected officials and industry experts. We want to understand what residents think, and we publish what we learn with the methodology attached.

Ask

The American Public Voice Survey

A short questionnaire for residents: what you know, what you think and what you want disclosed before a project is approved.

Measure

Project data and public records

Power, water, taxes, jobs and hearings, sourced and dated. Where information isn't public, we say so.

Publish

Results, maps and research

Open to residents, officials, developers and reporters alike, with sample sizes, dates and limitations shown.

Take the surveySee what America is telling us

Good Neighbor Standard

What makes a data center a good neighbor?

Not a score. Not a ranking. An accountability framework: what residents may want to know, what can be disclosed, how it can be measured, and what commitments a developer can voluntarily make, across thirteen categories.

Read the standard

PowerWaterLandNoiseAirInfrastructureJobsTaxesCommunity investmentTransparencyPublic participationReportingAccountability

Data center map

Where the infrastructure is going.

Existing, proposed and under-construction projects, with sourced fields for power, water, taxes, jobs and public hearings. Every field carries its source. Where information isn't public, the map says so.

Open the map

Research library

The evidence, organized.

Third-party research and APV analysis, clearly separated and searchable by topic, geography and project. Power, water, economics, taxes, jobs, land, environment, community benefits and public policy.

Browse the library

American Public Voice PAC is a federally registered independent-expenditure-only political committee, commonly known as a Super PAC. The Data Center Accountability Project is its public education, opinion research and accountability initiative. FEC Committee ID C00944447.

About APV