On March 4, 2026, President Trump hosted the CEOs of seven of the nation’s largest technology and AI companies at the White House for the signing of the Ratepayer Protection Pledge — a commitment to build, bring, or buy all energy needed for their data centers and to pay 100% of the grid infrastructure costs required to connect them, ensuring those expenses are never passed to residential households or small businesses. The pledge was previewed in the State of the Union address on February 24, 2026, signaling its elevation to a national policy priority. It is the highest-profile federal action ever taken on data center ratepayer protection.
Fairfax County, Virginia: The Compliance Framework
Fairfax County, Virginia, adopted on September 10, 2024 what is widely regarded as the most comprehensive data center noise and siting ordinance in the United States. It was developed after months of contentious public hearings, [...]
Immersion & Liquid Cooling: The Near-Silent Data Center
The fundamental source of data center community noise complaints is air movement: the high-speed fans required to push large volumes of air through server racks and exhaust heat to the exterior. These fans are noisy [...]
Amazon Web Services Great Oak Retrofit
The Amazon Great Oak data center complex in Prince William County, Virginia, represents the most thoroughly documented noise response case in U.S. data center history. It is not a success story without complications — and [...]