Connect | Virginia // Executive roundtable: Earning the right to build - A community action plan for responsible data center growth

As data center development accelerates to support AI and an increasingly digital economy, proposed projects are encountering greater scrutiny from the communities expected to host them. Residents and local leaders are raising legitimate questions about electricity costs, grid reliability, water use, noise, land use, construction impacts, transparency and the long-term value data centers will deliver locally. The industry’s response cannot simply be that data centers are necessary. It must demonstrate how they can be developed as responsible participants in local energy, water and economic ecosystems.

This executive roundtable will bring together data center leaders across operations, management, procurement, design and engineering to examine how the industry can earn greater community trust while continuing to build the infrastructure needed for AI and essential digital services. Data centers support healthcare, education, financial transactions, public safety, communications, cloud services and everyday digital experiences, but their broader societal value must be communicated alongside credible commitments to efficiency, resilience, transparency and local accountability.

Through a facilitated, action-oriented discussion, participants will identify where community concerns are justified, where the industry’s current engagement model is falling short and what operators can collectively do differently. The group will explore principles for earlier engagement, clearer disclosure, responsible resource use, community benefit and measurable performance. The session will conclude with a prioritized set of industry actions that participating organizations can advance individually and collectively to help communities evaluate data center development based on facts, transparent commitments and demonstrable shared value.