- OpenAI, Softbank, Blackstone, and construction unions have formed a lobbying group
- The American Infrastructure Alliance will support efforts to build data centers where local opposition is strong
- Opposition groups have called for a moratorium on new data centers, with existing research suggesting promises of long-term jobs are far-fetched
Challenges to data center development in the US are about to have the battle weighted against them with the unveiling of the American Infrastructure Alliance (AIA), a group of companies and unions that seek to overturn objections to new facilities.
Comprising OpenAI, global data center company QTS, investment company Softbank, management experts Blackstone, and seven unions including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, this coalition plans to establish guardrails for data center development in 2027.
The American Infrastructure Alliance plans to launch its initial defensive strategy in Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Indiana and South Carolina. In doing so, the AIA hopes to head off objections from local opposition groups, and avoid growing calls for moratoriums.
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“International” alliance
By establishing the alliance, the tech companies, management consultants, and unions intend to get public and union member support for the construction of new data centers.
Along with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the alliance includes the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA), the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers (HFIAW), the International Association of Iron Workers.
Representatives from some of these organizations have offered their support publicly. For example, Michael Coleman, general president of SMART, says “American workers and communities should have a seat at the table as this critical infrastructure is built.”
Responsible data center building
Unsurprisingly the heavy-handed approach that seems to have been conceived to force state officials and county and city councils to be more favorable to data center developments, is attracting criticism.
Mitch Jones has called for a moratorium on data center development to conduct further study on their mid- and long-term effects. He’s the managing director of policy and litigation at environmental group Food & Water Watch, and has concerns not just about the environmental impact, but jobs too.
He expressed concern about construction jobs data, telling the DCNF that “Once centers are constructed, very few jobs remain in the facilities themselves. Our research has found that as of 2024 there were only 23,000 people working permanently in data centers across the country.”
Calls for moratoriums have grown, with politicians including Sen. Bernie Sanders planning legislation to pause construction of data centers across the US until their guardrails are in place.
But the AIA’s guardrails and lobbying are likely to have a more immediate effect, and bring jobs. Kenneth Cooper, the IBEW’s international president, notes: “Blanket bans on necessary infrastructure projects would set back our economy and threaten good middle-class jobs.”
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