Less than a month after Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer, a Democrat, joined Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on stage at the National Governors Association meeting in Oklahoma City and talked about data centers and permitting reform, Meyer signed legislation this week targeting data centers.
The bill he signed requires data centers to generate their own clean power to reduce the strain on the grid and pressure on energy costs. It is very much like Oklahoma’s “Behind-the-meter” law touted by Gov. Stitt as he and Meyer shared the stage while being interviewed by NBC’s Kristen Welker.
The legislation prevents data centers from passing the costs associated with powering and upgrading their facilities on to ratepayers. Under the new law, data centers are required to generate their own “clean” energy to reduce their strain on the electric grid, according to a report by WHYY News.
Meyer also signed legislation that would prevent data centers from receiving tax credits for creating jobs.
“Delaware is open to innovation, investment and economic growth, but growth must be responsible. It cannot come at the expense of those who live here,” Meyer said during the bill-signing event. “Data centers that do not pay their fair share do not belong in our communities. Data centers cannot jeopardize the reliability of our electric grid, and Delaware ratepayers will not be asked to subsidize enormous demands for power.”
Data centers are operated by large tech companies and house big computer servers necessary to power the growth of online processing, storage and artificial intelligence.
Proponents of data center development tout the prospect of increased tax revenue for the states and local governments they’re built in. However, as utility bills continue to soar in the region, residents are concerned that a strain on the power grid could mean higher energy bills.
PJM Interconnection, which manages the region’s electric grid, has pointed to the increase in data centers as a cause of rising electricity bills.
During his joint appearance earlier in August at the NGA conference in Oklahoma City, Gov. Meyer made pointed remarks about data centers and their attempts to develop projects in his state.
“Well, we’ve got to make sure billionaires aren’t controlling our economy and aren’t controlling local landings. I’ll be very clear, and we’re having tremendous success in my first 18 months attracting employers to our state. But I’m very clear, if you’re going to come, take away our water resources and not replace them, we don’t really want you here.”
