Report by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS): “Data center development has outpaced most local governments’ capacity to respond to it, as evidenced by the increasing amount of moratoria legislation to give time for policy development and conversations with communities.1 As data center applications ramp, so have requests for policy guidance by local governments. Broadly, we are starting to see nascent best practices, understanding more clearly the knowledge gaps and research needs, and building a community of practice across industries. This report provides new information for local government policy makers, including property value impacts and a robust collection and analysis of community benefit agreements.
Over the course of 2026, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has conducted primary research, including interviews in the field, issued public records requests for difficult-to-find agreements, and created a series of trackers on new ordinances, state legislation, and moratoriums. This report serves as a landscape assessment and toolbox from which local governments can negotiate an informed position when it comes to the levers available to them and includes a first-of-its kind analysis of ten executed agreements between local governments and data center developers.
This report includes three sections:
Ordinances Analysis: provides a brief overview of what local governments are already doing through a landscape scan of 42 local ordinances and 12 state actions.
Data Center Property Values: provides a sampling of data for taxable value over time across six jurisdictions.
Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) – Review and Comparison: provides a comparative review of ten CBAs, identifying common requirements, what is offered as a benefit to the local government and to the developer, and what policy considerations are included within the agreement…(More)”.
