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Data Centers | On The Issues

Data Centers with Dan Diorio, Data Center Coalition Executive Vice Pesident of State Policy & Government Affairs

Caption Text Below:    

00:00 - The following program is sponsored in part by

00:03 - customer's bank.

00:13 - Virginia joined today by dan diorio executive vp of state policy and government

00:17 - affairs for the data center coalition

00:20 - over one hundred billion dollars has been announced in data center development in

00:23 - pennsylvania at a time when state lawmakers and local

00:26 - officials are considering regulating the industry

00:29 - so basically just to start out a basic question what

00:31 - should our viewers know about data center development.

00:35 - Well thanks for having me here today

00:36 - it's important to remember that

00:38 - data centers are everything that we do everyday

00:41 - it's how we work it's how we learn is how we communicate it's every telehealth

00:45 - appointment every electronic health care record

00:47 - every online classroom

00:49 - every online purchase in state and local governments

00:52 - nine one one geo-location services unit

00:55 - data centers are the backbone in the twenty first century economy

00:58 - the average household has twenty one connected devices

01:02 - laptops and phones

01:03 - smart watches doorbells thermostats garage doors lights smart tv's

01:08 - my oven is connected to wifi

01:10 - all of that requires significant digital infrastructure

01:14 - there's a lot gotta talk i think around artificial intelligence right now

01:18 - and

01:19 - it really is an important growth driver for the industry

01:22 - but it's important remember that it's not the be all end all data centers and it's

01:26 - actually less than a quarter of current compute

01:28 - and ai won't achieve parity with traditional cloud compute until about

01:32 - twenty thirty four twenty thirty five

01:35 - survey vast majority of data centers being built

01:37 - to support the twenty first century economy

01:39 - all of those services that we rely on everyday.

01:43 - For those who are unfamiliar with the data center

01:45 - coalition who does your organization represent.

01:48 - Dc sees the national association representing leidy leading data center owners and

01:52 - operators we have over fifty members.

01:55 - Some of which are household names that that many folks now

01:59 - but others a vast majority of our membership our multi-tenant data centers and ones

02:03 - that build and then they lease out space inside

02:06 - and they can lease out space to.

02:08 - One of the large cloud providers that can lease out space to a big box retailer.

02:13 - Credit card company payment processing local technology local healthcare you name it

02:17 - basically anyone and everyone that needs access to digital infrastructure.

02:22 - What are the biggest

02:23 - misconceptions that people have about data centers.

02:26 - Well i think you know first and foremost as i mentioned is

02:29 - the focus on artificial intelligence and again i think ai has important questions

02:34 - that we're all going to need to answer about the application itself

02:37 - data sen the facilitating infrastructure

02:40 - data centers have been around for a very very long time

02:43 - as our computing needs you very much continue to rise

02:46 - the twenty tens we figured out ways to kind of aggregate all of this together

02:50 - leverage economies of

02:52 - scale and achieve significant efficiencies

02:54 - and even in this high growth period that we're in now that

02:57 - principle still holds true this is a far more efficient way

03:00 - of doing all the computing processing and storage

03:03 - that we need and that we rely on in our everyday lives

03:06 - i think the second misperception is that

03:08 - as we've seen data

03:10 - low growth rise on our electricity system

03:12 - and prices in electricity costs have gone up

03:15 - that they are into intricately connected

03:18 - when we actually see that evidence showing no historic relationship between data

03:22 - center load growth and rising electricity costs

03:24 - rather we see costs going onto a variety do to a variety of

03:28 - factors related to

03:30 - needed infrastructure upgrades supply chain constraints labor costs overall inflation

03:35 - now in the pjm region of which pennsylvania is a part

03:37 - of we know the data centers are about fifty percent

03:40 - of the capacity cost increases but what's important

03:43 - is that that fifty per cent needs to be directly

03:46 - up fly to the data center industry

03:49 - we are committed

03:50 - to paying our full cost of service for electricity or an end user we get a bill

03:55 - just like every other customer at the end of the month and we expect that to be our

03:58 - cost in full no other ratepayers are paying

04:01 - for electricity costs that are duly caused and should be assigned to the industry

04:05 - but we're not resting on our laurels we're so

04:07 - supporting terrorists contracts and policies

04:10 - that help to ensure their ratepayers are protected

04:12 - we're bringing our own energy resources or

04:14 - we're building our own energy resources

04:17 - and that's something that the industry will continue

04:19 - to invest in to ensure that repairs are protected

04:23 - and the last one i'd want to highlight really is the the focus on water

04:26 - and relief facts and data in context show

04:29 - the data center industry is among the most efficient water users in the economy

04:33 - we use less water than certain types of manufacturing

04:35 - we use less water than food beverage productions

04:38 - data centers use less water than what's lost to water

04:40 - leaks in municipal water systems on an annual basis

04:44 - the world's largest market virginia eighty three percent of data centers

04:47 - as much if not less water than a large commercial office building

04:51 - arizona

04:51 - top five market data centers use less water than

04:54 - craft beer production and golf courses in the state

04:56 - so the contexts release key

04:58 - hearing in

04:59 - understanding data center water use

05:01 - but the industry has been rapidly deploying

05:03 - for years water efficient cooling technologies

05:06 - enable continue to prioritize water stewardship.

05:09 - In august of this year governor josh shapiro signed an executive order

05:13 - among other things calling for data centers to

05:16 - cover their own energy costs until to

05:17 - community approval what did the governor's executive

05:20 - order accomplish that wasn't already in law.

05:23 - Well

05:24 - i think what's important is that

05:26 - we share governor's bureau's goal of ensuring that responsible

05:28 - good actors are the ones developing in pennsylvania.

05:32 - I do think

05:33 - we have concerns with the governor highlighting two projects.

05:36 - These are not dcc members these are not well established companies that have been

05:40 - developing data centers for years

05:42 - dcc members are the ones i know how to develop this that have been building this

05:45 - infrastructure and know how to do it responsibly

05:48 - so i think we look forward to working with the governor and his administration as

05:51 - well as the legislature to ensure that responsible

05:53 - development comes to pennsylvania communities

05:56 - but i think what's key here is the uncertainty

05:59 - we saw a lot of projects that really got caught in the mix that weren't quite sure

06:02 - where they fell within this pro process and what other

06:04 - additional requirements that we're going to have to do

06:07 - how this applied to the sales tax exemption program in pennsylvania

06:11 - the rules were sort of changed in the middle of the game

06:14 - and that presents a lot of uncertainty for the good developers

06:17 - the ones that are investing billions of dollars

06:19 - on tens of thousands of skilled tradesmen to work

06:23 - to build these facies pilates and helping to drive economic growth and vital tax

06:26 - revenue for pennsylvania communities

06:29 - so we're going to really i think have to see how these changes

06:32 - affect

06:33 - pennsylvania's overall competitiveness in the years to come.

06:37 - The governor's executive order also eliminates fast tracking permits that are needed

06:41 - for a data center development how important is it

06:43 - to to move these permits along at a rapid pace.

06:47 - While the permanent more for me something is a key

06:50 - topic throughout the economy in basically any sector

06:53 - permitting reform

06:55 - is something that's been needed for a very long time

06:57 - we need to achieve a balance between actually being able to build things and build

07:01 - infrastructure with the need to ensure that it's done sustainably and responsibly

07:06 - and so

07:06 - i think there is a really good conversation to be had about how we reform permitting

07:10 - both at the federal level in the state level

07:12 - and at pjm to to be able to get these needed infrastructure projects

07:16 - up and running in all online.

07:19 - For someone who hasn't seen a data center or

07:21 - that hasn't been around one what should they know.

07:24 - While

07:25 - a data center you know really it's it's not a mysterious black box monolith really.

07:30 - This is a building that has a familiar building shell it has servers inside

07:34 - those servers are

07:35 - everything that we rely on everyday it's it's video calls and facetime calls it

07:40 - storing photos in the cloud it's streaming services but it's those

07:43 - financial transactions anytime

07:45 - you deposit a check on your phone

07:47 - that's what those servers are hosting.

07:49 - Servers have to be cooled so there's cooling systems within their

07:52 - know if the servers aren't cooled ultimately the

07:54 - temperature rises as much as a degree a minute

07:57 - until ultimately those servers fail and when the servers

08:00 - fail all everything that we rely on goes down with them

08:03 - so they have to be cooled you see written

08:05 - power systems backup power systems we need to be able to

08:08 - you know keep nine one one geo-location up and running in times of an

08:12 - emergency in case power from the grid is interrupted.

08:15 - We see access to fiber lines but you also see offices in

08:19 - community spaces and cafes you know these are places where people go to work everyday

08:24 - they are not mysteries these buildings and i think it's important to remember that

08:27 - data centers have been around for a very long time

08:30 - there are communities probably throughout pennsylvania that didn't realize that they

08:33 - had a data center providing their vital connectivity

08:37 - in their community

08:39 - and you know obviously the size and the scale

08:41 - is very much different you know and it's very much

08:44 - a lot larger currently

08:46 - but

08:47 - this is infrastructure.

08:49 - That we are all demanding consumers and businesses

08:52 - will generate twice as much data in the next five years

08:55 - is all the data we generated in the previous ten

08:57 - so demand is exponential right now and the industries trying to build the

09:01 - infrastructure to meet that demand.

09:03 - In recent months public officials who have previously supported data centers have

09:07 - changed their positions why do you think that's occurred.

09:11 - Well i think

09:11 - a lot of it comes from these very real concerns and communities and it's

09:15 - it's clear from the industry that we needed to do and we continue to need to do a

09:19 - better job about community engagement and stakeholder engagement and transparency

09:24 - our members are heavily investing in those teams to ensure that they have a

09:28 - consistent presence on the ground

09:30 - to be able to be fun center and answer questions from those communities.

09:34 - In the industry again was trying to build out and it still could trying to build out

09:37 - very quickly to meet this demand we know that we have a gap between our demand

09:41 - and actually our available capacity that continues to grow every year

09:45 - but i think recognizing that more

09:47 - early and often and engaged community engaged.

09:50 - Stakeholder purchase the patient.

09:52 - Is key to the long-term success of a project

09:55 - very clearly communicating with this project is what it is it

09:58 - how we use resources like energy and water wisely how ratepayers will be protected

10:04 - and ultimately how that community will benefit from this project

10:07 - and in as

10:08 - in the forms of

10:09 - both tax revenue and jobs also how those companies

10:12 - engage in the community and invest in the community and

10:16 - how they invested in shared community infrastructure

10:19 - how they investing community priorities like parks or

10:23 - you know the local little league teams you know these are

10:25 - steel in the ground long term development projects

10:29 - in dcc member companies are committed to being those responsible partners

10:32 - and they're committed to investing in those communities for the long haul

10:36 - so we need to continue to do better

10:38 - and you know and

10:40 - when it comes to engagement and transparency in pennsylvania communities.

10:44 - Data centers impact energy usage for the grid.

10:48 - While

10:49 - ultimately what we are seeing right now is an era of electricity low growth and it's

10:53 - tied to a variety of different sources

10:56 - data centers are one but we also know that advanced

10:58 - manufacturing is rising it's coming back onshore

11:01 - data centers are actually a key driver of that with their need for robust domestic

11:05 - supply chains for electrical components key identical components steel etc

11:10 - pennsylvania is i think really poised obviously with a strong manufacturing base

11:14 - to see that continued diversified economic development in

11:17 - in those other industries but we also know his

11:19 - continued electrification not just vehicles but

11:22 - homes businesses and industries

11:24 - as well as emerging hundred and production

11:27 - and i think for data centers what we see

11:30 - are data centers as large electricity users

11:33 - they are able to bear a proportional share and a higher proportional share

11:37 - of the fixed costs that go into maintaining the grid

11:39 - and what we see is data center and actually being

11:41 - able to lower electricity costs for other ratepayers

11:45 - and it's really key that pjm take steps to ensure that if that's the case

11:49 - and for our part again as an industry where an end user we

11:52 - want to ensure that we are paying our full cost of service

11:55 - and that no other ratepayers are paying the costs that are duly assigned to data

11:58 - centers and we're continuing to be an active and engaged stakeholder

12:02 - at every level

12:03 - whether it be.

12:05 - At the utility level whether it be at the pc in

12:07 - pennsylvania whether it be a pj am or at the federal level

12:10 - to ensure that ratepayers are protected and

12:11 - data centers can pay their full costs to service

12:15 - to what extend our data centers utilizing renewable energy.

12:19 - Data centers are amongst

12:20 - the

12:21 - most prolific corporate procures of clean energy

12:24 - they were

12:24 - directly responsible for half of all corporate

12:26 - clean energy procurement in twenty twenty four

12:29 - they were responsible for over eighty percent of corporate clean energy procurement

12:33 - for the first half of two thousand and twenty five

12:35 - this is an industry that is heavily investing it's private

12:37 - capital into furthering the clean enter eg transition

12:40 - and getting clues from

12:42 - technologies on the grid across the board from a variety of sources

12:45 - is key to long term sustainability and long term grid reliability

12:49 - so this is an industry again that is very heavily

12:51 - investing in these technologies and committed to furthering

12:54 - that clean energy transition.

12:57 - Earlier when we talked about misconceptions.

12:59 - I talked about some concerns regarding water usage can you specifically address

13:04 - whether a data center's water usage ads to call

13:07 - the service has any impact on residential wells.

13:11 - We see no direct impact on data centers

13:13 - water usage on residential walls.

13:16 - Data centers are are permitted

13:18 - they need to follow all the normal rules that any large water user would

13:23 - not all data centers use water for cooling

13:25 - there is no one size fits all method of cooling it's going to depend on those local

13:29 - water resources these decisions are not made in a vacuum.

13:33 - Data center is very much evaluate local watersheds they evaluate

13:36 - local water scarcity conditions they evaluate

13:39 - the availability of different sources of water

13:42 - data centers are heavily investing in recycled water

13:44 - infrastructure because recycled water reclaimed wastewater

13:47 - these can be used for for cooling within a data center

13:51 - data centers are utilizing those alternative

13:53 - water sources where there's a robust domestic

13:55 - supply to ensure that they're not affecting potable water supplies

13:59 - so we see i think very little impact from data center water use on those.

14:04 - Local water conditions because data centers very much take that into account

14:08 - when deciding which cooling technology to use.

14:11 - What kind of conditions to data center developers

14:13 - seek out when you're considering a site.

14:17 - There are a variety of factors that go into

14:19 - why data centers

14:20 - decided to say where they do

14:22 - and i think certainly time to market is an overall concern

14:25 - is this site

14:26 - ready to be developed.

14:28 - Is there available electricity is there

14:31 - access to fibre infrastructure and water infrastructure

14:33 - if necessary is there a skilled workforce

14:36 - to help

14:37 - build this facility.

14:39 - Do you have access to a customer base that is looking to develop in the area

14:43 - all of these factors are under consideration

14:45 - and the companies weigh them individually

14:48 - i also think you have

14:50 - is this an industrially zoned site is it a brownfield site

14:53 - that provides access to ready made infrastructure and it's not a greenfield site

14:57 - where you may have concerns about

14:59 - setbacks or proximity to residences and other concerns

15:03 - so data centres very much seek out those different sites

15:06 - and i think it's important that there's not a one size fits all policy that

15:09 - determines where data centers can site.

15:12 - Because for many communities a data center may fit

15:14 - their needs and they may have already made side

15:16 - but for other communities

15:17 - data center may not fit their needs and they may not have

15:20 - an applicable site that is really prime for data center development

15:23 - so we need to ensure that communities can attract

15:25 - the projects that fit their needs the best.

15:29 - September twenty second inside climate news article suggests quilt

15:33 - building data centers on abandoned mine lands would provide

15:36 - an alternative to destroying farmlands or local forests

15:39 - instead making use of already unwanted acreage.

15:42 - Underground mine polls could use data centers

15:44 - without relying on outside water sources and quote

15:47 - is this something that data center developer i have considered.

15:50 - Yes very much so

15:52 - as i mentioned brownfield sites you know this is kind of an example of ready-made

15:55 - sites that have access to industrial infrastructure

15:58 - that can make a lot of sense for a data center

16:00 - again there's no one size

16:02 - fits all siting criteria and i don't think there should be a one size fits all policy

16:05 - that forces data centers into that

16:07 - but many data centers are alright id evaluating that when they look at those sites

16:11 - and looking at ways to repurpose many of those sites i mean we see

16:15 - data centers utilizing the old sears headquarters and

16:19 - headquarters outside of chicago

16:21 - we see data centers utilizing next to the old lexisnexis warehouses.

16:26 - In ohio

16:27 - so tremendous opportunities for data centers to utilize

16:30 - existing sites existing infrastructure and existing buildings

16:34 - but there's no evidence really that data centers are absorbing.

16:38 - Prime farmland and there's nothing that obviously.

16:42 - Is diminishing the private right of a landowner to sell their land and fort for a

16:47 - purpose that that they deem is excess audible

16:50 - and so i think that's really key here is is that misperception that data centers are

16:55 - you know i think.

16:57 - Abnormally

16:58 - occupying prime farmland when there's no indication that that is really the case

17:03 - but any opportunities i think with that ready made infrastructure

17:07 - are really valuable for the data center industry.

17:09 - You talk briefly about what kind of tax breaks to data centers

17:13 - currently receive and perhaps comment briefly on

17:16 - legislation to eliminate those tax breaks in particular legislate legislation

17:20 - sponsored by state representative greg vitaly.

17:23 - Two data centers receive the same tax treatment as manufacturers in pennsylvania

17:27 - and that is really key

17:29 - and just like manufacturers data centers have

17:32 - heavy capital equipment costs in this case the servers and just like manufacturing

17:37 - having a sales tax exemption provides.

17:40 - The ability to defray some of the cost of the

17:43 - inputs get the economic output on the other side

17:45 - and so for data centers being able to update their servers

17:49 - with the most energy efficient technology new chips coming out or something like

17:53 - twenty five percent more energy efficient.

17:55 - Being able to update that and to ensure that pennsylvanians are served with efficient

18:00 - digital infrastructure.

18:02 - Really is key to ensure during that the company can invest in that building

18:07 - for the long haul

18:08 - so and the reality is is that data centers come with a lot of strings attached for

18:12 - that sales tax exemption they have to hit spending

18:14 - thresholds they have to hit job thresholds

18:17 - whereas folks on the manufacturing side don't have those strings attached and they

18:20 - get just a blanket exemption so it really is important to understood finding what

18:24 - this is designed to do and what it's designed to do is facilitate long term

18:28 - investment in these facilities to ensure efficient infrastructure

18:33 - and so we have significant concerns that

18:35 - changes to that or or attempts to eliminate it

18:37 - ultimately would make pennsylvania less competitive as a marketplace

18:41 - and it really would send a signal that pennsylvania

18:44 - will go back on its commitments and it would send a

18:45 - broader signals of the economic development community

18:49 - about pennsylvania's competitiveness and commitment

18:52 - to long term economic development.

18:55 - Because i think ultimately these programs have been enormously successful

18:58 - pennsylvania has realized a billion dollars over a billion dollars in taxes

19:03 - to the state gov

19:04 - in twenty twenty four

19:05 - and over eight hundred million dollars to local

19:07 - governments in two thousand and twenty four

19:10 - you see almost twenty billion dollars to the state gdp nearly one hundred and thirty

19:14 - thousand jobs paying almost twelve billion dollars

19:17 - in labor contributions

19:18 - data centers are an economic driver.

19:21 - In proposals that would ultimately make pennsylvania a law competitive marketplace

19:25 - drive those jobs drive those investments to other states when really i think harm

19:31 - the working men and women of pennsylvania who are helping to build these facilities

19:35 - let's go a little deeper into that what kind of impact would the development of

19:39 - data centers have not only on the state's

19:41 - workforce and economy but also would those

19:43 - jobs basis staying up all kind of jobs with ab.

19:46 - These are really good paying jobs for skilled tradesmen especially.

19:50 - Data centers employ thousands of construction workers.

19:54 - Throughout the building process there's a thought that those are temporary jobs

19:58 - what i'd encourage someone to talk to a member of the

19:59 - building trades and tell them that their job is temporary

20:03 - and i think he'd get a pretty harsh reaction because there are individuals who make a

20:06 - career rear of what someone considers a temporary job

20:10 - but we also see those jobs turn into long turn into long term commitments

20:13 - because crews get contracted for multiple buildings on a site

20:16 - or as an experienced crew will get contracted

20:19 - by the developer for multiple sites in terms of

20:22 - the finish one side over here we want you to go to our

20:24 - other site in this community because you know how to build

20:27 - we know that you are a skilled workforce but data

20:30 - centers create strong business ecosystems around them

20:33 - we need those local small business electricians and plumbers and pipefitters and hvdc

20:37 - technicians to maintain these facilities when they are up and operational

20:41 - that's years and years of reliable consistent

20:44 - work for those local small business men and women

20:46 - to work on that

20:47 - ability.

20:48 - Inside the building data centers

20:50 - with

20:51 - their tremendous job opportunities within the building

20:54 - that don't require a traditional four year degree

20:57 - the industry is heavily investing in community colleges technical schools

21:00 - to develop curriculum and certification programs

21:03 - that are

21:04 - several weeks or a couple of months long

21:06 - and individuals can command that can go through that and making it a really good

21:10 - paying job in a twenty first century economic field

21:13 - right out of that these are jobs and systems management in ity

21:17 - and i think they're really highly skilled good paying jobs

21:21 - so there's tremendous opportunity for other service providers and other professionals

21:25 - we see for every one job in a data center four and a

21:27 - half the jobs are supported elsewhere in the economy

21:30 - and i think that job impact cannot be overstated

21:33 - in data centers really are the source of construction work write down sixty nine

21:37 - percent year over year increase from may

21:39 - twenty twenty three to may twenty twenty four

21:42 - that far outpaces every other sector of commercial construction

21:46 - and we see

21:46 - traditional commercial buildings an office building construction in the negative

21:50 - so this is a vital source of man hours of work

21:53 - for the skilled tradesmen and women of pennsylvania.

21:56 - How would you describe pennsylvania's political

21:58 - environment the environment and perhaps the the feedback

22:01 - we've received from elected officials about data center development in pennsylvania.

22:06 - Well i think the feedback clearly is

22:08 - wanting to ensure better engagement at the community level

22:11 - and i think continued efforts to address misperceptions

22:15 - and to really invest in those communities and be transparent

22:19 - answer questions

22:20 - and ensure that the development is responsible throughout the state

22:24 - i think our main message has been to to pennsylvania the law makers which is

22:28 - you know policies can have a significant impact on development

22:31 - policies that are punitive one size fits all that

22:33 - are designed to deter development rather than solve

22:36 - real issues

22:38 - ultimately will put

22:39 - pennsylvania at a competitive disadvantage

22:41 - and the jobs will move elsewhere will not help to solve any of the issues within pjm.

22:47 - Or.

22:48 - As the regional grid provider

22:50 - and so it's important for pennsylvania to continue

22:53 - to realize the economic benefits of the industry

22:56 - there are a lot of holistic issues that are not data center exclusively data center

22:59 - centric when it comes to electricity or other resources

23:02 - how you do effective infrastructure planning

23:05 - so i think taking a long term view that says

23:08 - you know we are not going to just

23:10 - punish the data center industry we are going to look

23:12 - at ways that we have long term infrastructure planning

23:15 - that apply across all industries that seek to come to

23:18 - pennsylvania that will ensure accountability across

23:22 - the economy and for

23:24 - for pennsylvania ratepayers really is the key to long term success durable policies

23:30 - that creates certainty and predictability and i think our biggest concern is

23:34 - that uncertainty and unpredictability that comes

23:36 - into play that will harm long term investment.

23:40 - Last week

23:41 - leaders of the nation's top ai companies such as anthropic and open ai had called for

23:45 - global slowdown on ai development.

23:47 - Citing some specific concerns is there i guess part number one

23:50 - a legitimate threat of the the ai industry kind of losing control beyond human intent

23:56 - and secondly do you see that impacting further development within pennsylvania.

24:01 - Well.

24:02 - We represent the infrastructure providers and it's important to distinguish between

24:06 - the infrastructure itself and the application obviously some of our larger members

24:10 - are doing both developing the applications

24:13 - as well as the infrastructure

24:15 - the applications come with significant questions and i

24:17 - think those questions are going to need to be answered

24:19 - by the industry three

24:21 - in conjunction with with lawmakers and regulators to provide for effective oversight.

24:26 - But right now

24:28 - data centers are looking to build the infrastructure

24:31 - to help support that exponential demand and

24:32 - i go back to that significant misperception

24:35 - of data centers are not just all ai and the vast majority of data centers being built

24:39 - or providing cloud infrastructure that

24:41 - provides the essential services that we rely on

24:44 - in our everyday lives

24:46 - and it's important again i think to not get caught

24:48 - up in that ai is the be all end all data centers

24:51 - and so i think these are going to be really important conversations that continue to

24:55 - be worked out about what ai applications meets

24:58 - the data centers are the supporting infrastructure and the core austrians

25:01 - revolving around the application itself

25:04 - are somewhat separated but i think they are intimately twined

25:08 - intertwined

25:09 - in many aspects

25:10 - means you're going to be important questions moving forward.

25:13 - Are there any last thoughts you'd like to leave our viewers with as

25:16 - development continues to be pursued through pennsylvania.

25:20 - What i would

25:21 - emphasize

25:22 - to viewers is that

25:23 - you don't ask questions and expect the companies to answer them.

25:26 - The really good actors in the space are going

25:28 - to be the ones answering these questions

25:30 - they are going to be the ones developing responsibly investing in communities for the

25:34 - long haul putting tens of thousands of

25:36 - of workers to work in pennsylvania

25:40 - providing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue to pennsylvania communities

25:43 - that go into schools and infrastructure and surface and services.

25:47 - They should go into tax relief as well communities

25:49 - should expect that commute that local leaders provide

25:52 - direct

25:53 - answers to to real affordability concerns

25:56 - but i'd also ensure that they recognize the context here

26:00 - specially when it comes to water use to recognize how data centers are helping to

26:03 - lower electricity bills in states throughout the country

26:06 - by being those those large loads that bear those infrastructure costs and it would

26:10 - just be important to recognise i think the role that data centers play in our

26:14 - everyday lives and how we all continue to use them

26:17 - whether we realize it or not but i think most of important importantly you cannot

26:21 - emphasize ask questions expect the industry to answer them

26:24 - focus on the good responsible actors

26:27 - you know two instances in pennsylvania does not

26:29 - represent an entire industry and especially not from.

26:33 - Individuals or companies that don't have the track

26:35 - record of long development that our companies do

26:38 - and so i just look forward to to further their engagement we want to ensure that

26:42 - pennsylvania continues to be a strong and growing market we want to put people to

26:45 - work in pennsylvania we want pennsylvania communities to realize the revenue

26:50 - but that takes partnership and it takes accountability

26:53 - and i think it takes open and honest and data driven conversations

26:57 - and speaking with dan diorio executive vp of state policy

27:00 - affairs for the data center coalition thank you for joining us.

27:04 - Thank you for adding me.


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