Data Center Boom Lifts US Towns With $11 Billion Projects as AI Demand Surges

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 30

$11 billion in new data center development turned Ellendale, North Dakota, from a town collecting about $400,000 in annual sales tax to $3.5 million in the first seven months of 2026.
AI-driven demand for computing power is fueling the buildout, while newer facilities are adding closed-loop cooling and quieter operations to address concerns over electricity use, water supplies and quality of life.
Local governments are using the revenue to fund visible gains: Richland Parish, Louisiana, boosted teacher bonuses by $10,000 to $50,000, while Loudoun County, Virginia, gets 45% of county revenue from data centers and has cut property tax rates for a decade.
Power costs and jobs are also central to the pitch: Georgia agreements tied to large new electricity customers including OpenAI are projected to lower residential bills by $180 a year by 2029, and union locals in Baltimore and Luzerne County sharply expanded membership during construction.
The report argues those benefits complicate political calls for moratoriums or bans, casting data centers as a new industrial engine for smaller US communities if developers work with residents on local impacts.