By Doug Kelly:
America is undertaking one of the largest infrastructure buildouts in our history to win the global artificial intelligence (AI) race. With that investment comes a responsibility to ensure the communities hosting it share in the benefits.
Increasingly, that’s exactly what’s happening. America’s technology and infrastructure companies are protecting ratepayers, training workers and strengthening local infrastructure while investing billions in the communities where they build.
The first is protecting ratepayers. More than 300-plus organizations have signed President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge. These companies have committed to build, bring, or buy the power needed for their data centers and cover the cost of power-delivery infrastructure upgrades rather than passing those costs onto American families and other businesses.
Beyond that, companies have also given back in several other ways. Here is a snapshot:
Meta
- $1 billion for American communities: This week, Meta announced its new Future Is for Everyone Fund, committing $1 billion to invest in communities where it is building AI infrastructure, helping ensure these communities share in the benefits of America’s AI buildout.
- Training American workers: Meta is investing an initial $115 million in America’s Workforce Academy, providing free skilled-trades training and guaranteed jobs for graduates, with programs launching in Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Texas.
- Investing in water infrastructure: Google has committed more than $500 million to water and wastewater infrastructure in communities where it operates or is building data centers, while working toward replenishing more water than it consumes.
- Training 300,000 American workers: Google is investing $50 million to help train more than 300,000 workers for high-demand skilled-trades careers, partnering with labor unions and trade associations across more than 20 states.
Amazon
- Investing in communities across America: As the nation’s largest cloud infrastructure provider, Amazon invested more than $184 billion in U.S. cloud infrastructure from 2011 through 2024, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and major data center investments in communities across states including Virginia, Ohio, Oregon, California, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Mississippi.
- Strengthening the communities where it builds: Amazon is investing in workforce training, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and local community programs around its data centers while also making major investments in community infrastructure. In Louisiana alone, Amazon has committed up to $400 million to improve public water and sewer infrastructure as part of its $12 billion data center investment.
Microsoft
- Putting communities first: Microsoft’s Community-First AI Infrastructure initiative makes five commitments to communities where it builds: pay its own way on electricity, minimize water use and replenish more than it consumes, create local jobs, grow the local tax base and invest in local AI training and nonprofits.
- Training local workers: Microsoft is expanding its workforce training partnerships with schools, community colleges, universities and organized labor to prepare Americans for construction, data center and AI-related careers.
Other American Companies Also Are Stepping Up
It’s not just the hyperscalers. Energy companies, data center developers and major infrastructure investors are also adding power, training workers, protecting ratepayers and investing in the communities helping build America’s AI future.
- QTS/Blackstone: QTS, a Blackstone portfolio company, has made a Commitment to Communities that includes funding 100 percent of its data centers’ energy needs so costs are not pushed onto local ratepayers, using closed-loop cooling that consumes no water during normal operations, supporting local community projects and working with Blackstone to build more power generation capacity than QTS data centers consume.
- NextEra Energy: NextEra is part of a more than $100 billion private investment in western Kentucky expected to create approximately 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs. The project is designed to add more generation and storage capacity than the data center campus needs, allowing excess electricity to flow back onto the regional grid.
- Hillwood: At its AllianceTexas development in North Texas, Hillwood has developed a 400-acre data center campus capable of delivering 400 megawatts at full buildout. To build the region’s tech and skilled talent pipeline, Hillwood is partnering with local schools, colleges and workforce agencies to develop a ready-to-hire workforce.
- Digital Realty: One of America’s largest data center operators, Digital Realty has achieved 100 percent renewable energy coverage across its U.S. colocation portfolio. It has also deployed water-conservation technology at 35 data centers that is expected to reduce water use by up to 15 percent and avoid withdrawing up to 126 million gallons of potable water annually.
There’s a common approach here: Build the digital infrastructure. Add the power. Pay your way. Protect ratepayers and water resources. Train American workers. Create good-paying jobs and a strong tax base. Invest in local communities.
America does not have to choose between building the AI infrastructure needed to compete with China and protecting the communities where it is built.
Done right, we can do both: strengthen America’s global competitiveness while creating jobs, growing local tax bases and investing in communities across the country. That is the model America should build on.