The sales pitch is on in Pahrump for a project its developers call Manse Technology Campus.

In a media release this week, its promoters made it sound almost like an act of philanthropy. It's an "$18.4 Billion Investment to Deliver Long-Term Funding for Pahrump Schools, Public Safety and Community Infrastructure."

Long-term funding for Pahrump schools? That sounds like one big bake sale. Such rhetoric is bound to turn heads in cash-strapped Nye County with its $7 million debt and innumerable unfunded needs. Pahrump has traditionally drawn about as many snake oil salesmen as community-minded altruists, and there's an unmistakable cynicism in its electorate.

Manse Technology Campus sounds practically collegiate, but it's not a university annex. As presented, it's a massive, privately funded data center complex with a 900-acre footprint. It advertises a projected groundbreaking in 2027 with a five-year buildout — all pending community approval, of course.

Then the good times really get rolling. Per the press release: "At full buildout, the campus is expected to become one of Nye County's largest taxpayers, generating tens of millions annually in never-abated property taxes, support thousands of construction and permanent jobs, and provide significant funding for schools, public safety, infrastructure and other essential public services."

Having played their generous economic benefits card, I should note that the county's $7 million debt is a math rounding error for an $18.4 billion data center project — a mere 0.038 of 1 percent of the total investment. The debt may sound like a lot for Nye's taxpayers, but not for Manse parent Gigawatt Development. Perhaps its officials will create a little goodwill with skeptical county residents by cutting a check and balancing the budget before the project is approved. (Now that would be a dynamite PR move.)

The ink is still drying on Manse Technology Campus LLC's corporate paperwork, and that's arched some eyebrows among the county's skeptics. The limited liability company was formed July 15, but with veteran real estate developers Sean Dalesandro and Jeffrey Canarelli associated with the development, there's little doubt it has been in the planning process for months.

Gigawatt President Dalesandro does not lack for confidence. He says in a press statement, "Pahrump deserves investments that create lasting value for its residents. This project is designed to pay its own way, funding its own infrastructure, using water rights it already owns and keeping power costs off residents' bills. We look forward to earning the community's trust through transparency and open dialogue."

As promoted, the complex, with its closed-loop cooling system, will use less than 300 acre-feet of water per year. That may be an act of conservation in a data center gold rush that is causing national outrage for its copious water consumption, but it's still enough water to service between 600 and 900 homes in an area whose residents have often had trouble with the availability of potable groundwater.

But the sales pitch is in full force. A data center Q&A was scheduled by Manse officials for July 25 at the Nye County Commission chambers and an open house is set for Aug. 3 at the Pahrump Nugget Hotel & Casino.

Its public relations effort is more polished than some, but not unique. The relief of government debt issue, for instance, has been used as a selling point for data center proposals in Reno and Boulder City. It worked in Reno with the help of a compliant council, which has since been pressured by angry citizens to declare a moratorium on future projects.

After Boulder City residents protested a proposal by Houston-based Skylar Energy Resources, and the spurned company produced a backup approval with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to build on federal land adjacent to the city boundary, the apparent sleight of hand drew the ire of Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV).

Now Boulder City officials are criticizing the company's secretive agreement with the BLM to place a data center on federal land adjacent to the Boulder City boundary. In its July 20 public notice of its June approval, the BLM website cites a presidential executive order in its fast-tracking of the project. As The Nevada Independent reported, Titus is drafting legislation that calls for increased transparency and public review of data center proposals on public land.

In states that have been slow to appreciate the high anxiety of the public on this issue — and Nevada is among them — national pushback continues. Despite substantial protest across the country, massive artificial intelligence data center developments continue apace with a handful of exceptions.

This month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed an executive order calling for a moratorium on new hyperscale facilities in that state. With some questioning whether the public backlash puts AI development at risk, large centers that will consume vast amounts of energy and water resources are moving forward in Texas, Louisiana and elsewhere.

As Nevada towns and counties continue to debate the role of data centers in their communities, well-financed developers press forward on multiple fronts.

If approved, the massive Manse Technology Campus data center project is bound to use plenty of heavy equipment. Let's see if its PR steamroller impresses the skeptics in Pahrump.

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family's Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in New Lines, Time, Reader's Digest, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Reuters and Desert Companion, among others.