Some Key Takeaways from a Recent Meeting with a Data Center Developer

The riskiest moment in a data-center deal is not the ribbon-cutting.

It is the press release.

Announce too early and you lock in narrative, expectations, and political attention before the site is ready. Walking it back costs more than a two-week delay.

Before the next campus announcement, boards should pressure-test five questions.

1. Power & Cost Causation

Who pays for the generation, transmission, and distribution upgrades if you are a large load?

"The utility will handle it" is not a strategy. Get the incremental-cost story straight first.

2. Water & Transparency

What is the cooling profile — and what are you comfortable disclosing if energy and water reporting advances?

Local water politics can stop a site faster than a hearing in Washington.

3. Exit Liability

If you scale down, pause, or exit early, who still pays for infrastructure built for your load?

That is a balance-sheet question, not a talking point.

4. Political & Regulatory Map

State PUC posture. Local zoning. Interconnection timing.

Separate headline risk from binding risk. A House vote can change the politics without changing your contract tomorrow morning.

5. Coalition Map

Who stands with you on day one? Who opposes you — and do you have a staff-ready one-pager when they do?

A narrow coalition that can carry the ask beats a broad letter that dilutes it.

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If you cannot answer these five cleanly, you are not ready to announce.

You are ready to workshop.