Meta and Amazon will each give $1 billion to data center towns

Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft change how they try to get the consent of towns that oppose their data centers. Meta and Amazon will each give $1 billion in incentives to host towns. Google tells that it will pay full property taxes on new campuses. This comes before the November midterm elections, where control of Congress and 36 governor offices is at stake.

What the firms offer

Amazon, Microsoft and Google tell that they do not make officials sign secrecy contracts. Meta tells that it looks at its use of them. Amazon will also give more data on energy and water use.

The numbers

The four firms plan more than $600 billion of capital projects this year for data centers. They reported more than $300 billion of net income in the last fiscal year. A trade group tells that it paid more than $10 million for ads for data centers in 10 states.

What critics tell

Sam Burleigh, who fights a possible data center of Amazon in Pennsylvania, tells that the offers are propaganda. Kathryn Hoffman of a Minnesota environmental group sees more outreach from Google, but not more disclosure. Senate Democrats tell in a report that the firms do not pay the full cost of the power grid.

Insight: Town permits matter today and new rules may follow

Opposition in towns stops permits, and the firms pay for consent. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, tells that AI data centers will become critical infrastructure. Important functions must have a copy in many areas. This reads as a race for local trust: the firms that get permits first will hold the sites that are hard to get.