A nationwide coalition of labor and business groups is forming to press for enforceable guardrails on data center development at the state and local level, the American Infrastructure Alliance said. The alliance said its inaugural members include the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Association of Iron Workers, the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters, SMART, the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, the Ohio State Building & Construction Trades Council and ACT Ohio, along with companies including QTS, SoftBank, SB Energy, OpenAI, Blackstone, CoreWeave, Prologis, Skybox, Rowan, American Real Estate Partners and its PowerHouse Data Centers platform, Related Digital and Digital Realty.
The alliance said its aim is to support and shape coordination among industry, labor, local communities and elected officials, and to back the long-term investment that data centers bring to communities and regions. It said it is not focused on the coming election, but that its work will begin before it and continue through the 2027 state legislative sessions, establishing approaches intended to carry the effort forward over years.
According to the alliance, the effort starts with locally grounded standards rather than a single template applied everywhere. It said it will support discussions already under way among policymakers, local leaders and communities in key states, seeking frameworks that protect natural resources, enforce accountability, create high-wage local jobs and deliver benefits for homeowners, school districts and local businesses. Tag Greason, co-chief executive of QTS, said the alliance will release a set of principles in the coming weeks that could serve as a practical starting point for policymakers, industry leaders, workers and local stakeholders.
The alliance said its approach is grounded in its own polling across key states, which it said shows support for data center development shifting from deep skepticism to clear majority support once enforceable guardrails are proposed and detailed. It listed five areas it will back in state policy: binding commitments to water stewardship and infrastructure; requirements that developers and operators pay for the energy and infrastructure their projects need so households and ratepayers are not left with added costs; support for workers and skilled trades; visible local benefits such as schools, roads and community infrastructure; and clear standards and oversight that hold operators accountable.
The alliance said its key operating states are Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Indiana and South Carolina, with efforts there led by local initiatives and the potential for expansion to further states over time.
