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Data Center Coalition outlines growth, local impacts and community concerns
Summary
Josh Levy of the Data Center Coalition briefed the commissioners on the data center industry’s rapid growth, siting priorities (power, fiber, clean energy), workforce pathways, water/cooling trade-offs and local community concerns such as noise, visibility and jurisdictional tax/pilot arrangements.
The Board heard a detailed virtual briefing from Josh Levy of the Data Center Coalition on the structure, demand drivers, siting factors and local economic impacts of data center development.
Levy described two broad categories of facilities—enterprise (single-tenant) and multi-tenant build-to-suit—and explained why markets are expanding beyond primary clusters. He cited third-party analyses that show data-center capacity and construction increasing rapidly and said jurisdictions often see large capital investment and significant tax revenues in markets that host large campuses. "Data centers represent huge capital investments... it's not unusual to see announcements now that exceed $1,000,000,000," Levy said.
Commissioners asked about employment generation, water use, noise, generator testing, and grid impacts within PJM. Levy said technician jobs often start in the $60,000–$80,000 range and can scale to six figures; community-college certificate programs are a common pathway. On water, Levy described trade-offs between water-based evaporative cooling and air-cooled, waterless designs and noted industry interest in recycled/reclaimed water where available. On local concerns he advised clear local standards for setbacks, buffers, aesthetics and noise mitigation and encouraged communities to set expectations for site design and permitting.
The presentation prompted detailed policy questions about PILOTs (payments-in-lieu-of-taxes), workforce training and the county’s approach to utility and permitting coordination; commissioners signaled interest in further study and in engaging the state and utilities on power and transmission planning.
