Political contributions from companies with a data center footprint in Nevada are on the rise ahead of a legislative session where the industry is likely to face unprecedented scrutiny.

A vote by one rural county's board of commissioners raises the question of whether data centers belong on Nevada's farmland.

Questions over data centers aren't yet causing major fissures in Nevada's labor community, but there are disagreements. Some unions want more data center projects. Others want a moratorium.

Cynics would argue that both candidates are merely placating the public's distrust of the industry — but so what? Restricting corporate handouts for any politically connected industry should be seen as a step in the right direction.

The fact that Thursday's special agenda meeting of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada had to be moved to a larger space to accommodate interest from the actual public says a lot about the subject.

The order requires state officials to propose how to limit delays in meeting the exponential growth in data center power needs across the next decade. It also

If approved, it would allow the company to bypass the traditional power grid operated by NV Energy and enable it to provide electricity to its client-users of its data centers. Sounds good? NV Energy doesn't think so.

There are more than 70 data centers either operating in or planned for Nevada, but Nevadans are turning out in droves at public meetings to protest them.  Despite this public disdain, almost everyone uses them. In this explainer, The Indy separates data center facts from fiction. 

Nevada can — and should — be choosy about which data center projects are built within the state.

The county submitted a sweeping proposal to the Nevada Legislature Tuesday to shorten the length of tax incentives, impose stricter spending requirements and prohibit tax breaks for data centers located on federal land.

A key factor in the decision has to do with a shift in the controversial project's focus from 2023 to 2026.

None of the 12 counties reached by The Indy said the state engaged with them as part of the review, which caused some concerns considering the tax breaks are likely going to burden local government coffers.

Candidates expressed some different positions. Some Democrats were more open to changing laws on energy and water use, while Republicans think federal regulation should ensure that the U.S. is able to compete with China.

It's hardly a surprise to anyone who has been speaking with members of communities that already have data centers nearby or are being courted for hyperscale AI complexes. It's not just fear. It's palpable anger.

The plan is part of a new data center policy platform that Ford's campaign released Wednesday, which also calls for a statewide ban on evaporative cooling and tracking more metrics of data centers receiving tax breaks.

Lyon County commissioners voted 3-1 Thursday to approve a zoning change needed to build the massive Monarch Data Center near Yerington, clearing a hurdle for a data center development even as many other jurisdictions in the state look to pause or re-assess data center buildout. 

When Copia Power unveiled plans for the Monarch Data Center — a 4.6 million-square-foot complex spanning 505 acres in rural Lyon County — it did so without owning a single acre of the land the project would sit on. That's not unheard of.

NV Energy's poke-in-the-eye of a lawsuit against Northern Nevada artificial intelligence data center developer Tract certainly spices up what promises to be a long fight for fairness on many fronts.

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.

"This is not a change in direction," said Taylor Adams, president and CEO of the organization, now called Northern NV Now, a name meant to be action-oriented and forward-thinking. "It is a clearer way to say who we have become."