Senate report questions data-center companies’ claims about community costs

The senators said their report presents findings from a nearly yearlong investigation into how AI data centers affect community costs.[1] The inquiry named Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, CoreWeave, Digital Realty and Equinix.[1] Lawmakers sent letters to the seven companies on December 15, 2025, and staff supplemented the inquiry with interviews and discussions with company representatives over the following year.[1] The report’s central concern is who pays for infrastructure and incentives associated with data-center development. The senators say the companies continue to seek subsidies from residential ratepayers and state and local governments.[1]

The report says data-center companies broadly opposed rules requiring them to pay the full cost of grid upgrades that would not have been needed without their facilities.[1] The companies argued that those costs should instead be shared among all ratepayers.[1] The report says its referenced costs relate to infrastructure that exclusively benefits companies, and that the figures do not cover all costs imposed on residential ratepayers.[1] It also says companies lobby state legislatures for more favorable terms, at times threatening to move projects elsewhere.[1] For energy planners and regulators, the dispute is about how to assign costs when new facilities require additional infrastructure.

The senators say data-center developers continue to seek tax incentives that cost states billions, while offering little evidence of economic benefits.[1] Companies acknowledged they would continue requesting and accepting sales-tax exemptions on chips and other equipment, which the senators called the sector’s most valuable tax break.[1] None of the seven companies surveyed provided comprehensive quantitative evidence of full-time jobs at their facilities, according to the senators.[1] Some companies told investigators permanent staffing was roughly one worker per megawatt of power demand.[2] The report also says all four Big Tech companies routinely request nondisclosure agreements, and identifies limiting public scrutiny as the stated goal of agreements with public officials.[1]

Time reports that a cited project is expected to draw 4,500 megawatts—about four times New Orleans’ peak electricity demand—and that a related power-plant purchase could add $8 to $13 per month to an average Entergy customer’s bill.[2] Meta disputed that its Louisiana project was responsible for the costs associated with the purchase.[2] On policy, the House bill would direct states to consider requiring large electricity users such as data centers to cover incremental infrastructure costs, while the Senate voted 57–43 against advancing the bill.[2] Elizabeth Warren has called for a national moratorium until developers agree to cover their full costs.[2]