US data centers: what they give back and what they're fighting

Each project is shown with its documented community investment beside its legal and local issues, so neither side gets read alone. Tap a bar or row to open details.

Documented community investment (top) Issue still open Issue resolved None found

Summary

Legal risk: on par with other large infrastructure, slightly lower (23% vs 28%).
Water: about half use low-water cooling; only 4 draw local water in a high water-stress state.
Power: 16% build their own plants (mostly gas); 80% use the grid, most in regions facing shortfall risk.
Community: 53% invest locally, though the size ranges from $1B to small scholarship funds.

Overall verdict

Net positive for most host communities: legal trouble is on par with other large projects, and half invest locally.
Who bears the cost: homes within about a mile, and areas near sites running their own gas plants.
National unknown: data centers could grow from 4.4% of US electricity (2023) to 12% by 2028, and who pays for the new power is still unresolved (DOE).

81 of 81 projects on the preliminary list, sorted by reported cost. "None found" means nothing turned up in the sources reviewed, not that nothing exists. Issue status current as of Oct 21, 2026. Full data and sources are in US_Datacenters_Since_2020.xlsx.