OpenAI signals a new tack on data centers as the political backlash intensifies

If these idiots had said this in the first place they wouldn't be getting their ass handed to them now. They're great at computing...they might consider a taking a night course (Harper Community College) in PR.

OpenAI signals a new tack on data centers as the political backlash intensifies

The ChatGPT maker pledged to cover power costs at campuses it owns and asked lawmakers to codify similar rules

By Cris Tolomia, Quartz Media

Updated November 5, 2026

OpenAI signals a new tack on data centers as the political backlash intensifies

OpenAI said Thursday that it will bear all electricity and infrastructure expenses at any future data center campuses under its ownership and operation, moving to respond to growing political backlash to AI data centers and the technology more broadly.

The ChatGPT maker made the pledge in a new National Community Compact. It also released a policy blueprint that asks federal, state, and local lawmakers to set similar rules. The announcement came two days after voters sided with curbs on development, or turned down measures favoring it, in all but one of 41 locally decided ballot questions in 10 states.

OpenAI said each campus will have its own local compact with a common set of commitments. Before major spending begins, the company will provide financial assurances to protect other customers if a project is delayed, reduced or canceled. It will develop a water plan for each campus, publish site-level water and electricity use, and release construction plans and independent noise studies before operations begin.

OpenAI said it will steer clear of nondisclosure agreements with public officials, while allowing narrow protections for security information, trade secrets and competitively sensitive information. It will publish the jobs it expects to create, work with unions and training providers, and issue annual reports on hiring and apprenticeships.

The company said investments will reflect local priorities. In Effingham County, Georgia, residents helped shape a $4.8 million grant for free school meals for all 14,000 students in the county. In Pike County, Ohio, families named childcare as a priority, leading to a joint $6 million commitment from OpenAI and SB Energy.

The blueprint urges state utility commissions to require large electricity customers to cover the costs they add to the grid. OpenAI said its agreement with Georgia Power for the planned Effingham County campus lets the utility cut power deliveries to OpenAI by up to 1,000 megawatts in periods of high demand. The blueprint also calls for public reporting on water, energy, noise and hiring, and for public terms on tax incentives, with a way to recover benefits if a developer falls short.

Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, said at a Wednesday briefing that work on the blueprint began in August, according to CNBC. "This will help ensure that there is a very high floor in terms of how people move forward," he said.

Lehane said some OpenAI projects could be delayed as data centers become more politically unpopular, according to Bloomberg. "People are certainly going to be mindful of how voters express themselves," he said. OpenAI said it had scheduled the rollout ahead of the midterm elections.

Voters in towns and cities across the country backed bans, moratoriums and other curbs on data centers in Tuesday's ballot measures.

Developers had called off at least $260 billion in planned U.S. data center projects as of mid-October. Most of those projects died at the local level, when a developer could not get a permit or a town or county government acted against it.