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US taxpayers being kept in the dark over datacenter subsidies -- The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/11/us_taxpayers_dc_subsidies/Disclosure? We've heard of it
The US datacenter industry is reaping huge benefits from state-level subsidies, but transparency around these incentives is limited and states that do calculate their returns find they are losing money on the deals.
Hundreds of billions is being lavished on datacenter construction across the country, however, a report published today claims many of these projects are being funded at the expense of taxpayers, with few states confirming the names of the beneficiaries.
Cloudy Data, Costly Deals: How Poorly States Disclose Data Center Subsidies is published by Good Jobs First, a non-profit body focused on corporate and government accountability. It points to 36 states where economic development subsidies for server farm projects mean that building materials and IT equipment are exempt from sales and use taxes.
The report claims only 11 states actually disclose which companies are receiving subsidies, and even then the disclosure is typically just the name of a Limited Liability Company (LLC) set up to develop the project, concealing which parent tech corporation is ultimately benefiting.
. . .
Taxpayers are typically coughing up at least $1 million for each permanent datacenter job created, according to the figures.
Good Jobs First claims the states that calculated their return on investment found they are losing between 52 and 70 cents for every dollar of datacenter tax exemption. It questions whether this is defensible given federal austerity measures that will significantly impact administrative budgets, and says states need to seriously consider ending or reducing these tax breaks.
In addition, the pace of datacenter construction is outpacing the ability of regional energy grids to supply enough juice, as a consequence of which Americans could face a 70 percent hike in their electricity bills by 2030 unless action is taken.
. . .
Hundreds of billions is being lavished on datacenter construction across the country, however, a report published today claims many of these projects are being funded at the expense of taxpayers, with few states confirming the names of the beneficiaries.
Cloudy Data, Costly Deals: How Poorly States Disclose Data Center Subsidies is published by Good Jobs First, a non-profit body focused on corporate and government accountability. It points to 36 states where economic development subsidies for server farm projects mean that building materials and IT equipment are exempt from sales and use taxes.
The report claims only 11 states actually disclose which companies are receiving subsidies, and even then the disclosure is typically just the name of a Limited Liability Company (LLC) set up to develop the project, concealing which parent tech corporation is ultimately benefiting.
. . .
Taxpayers are typically coughing up at least $1 million for each permanent datacenter job created, according to the figures.
Good Jobs First claims the states that calculated their return on investment found they are losing between 52 and 70 cents for every dollar of datacenter tax exemption. It questions whether this is defensible given federal austerity measures that will significantly impact administrative budgets, and says states need to seriously consider ending or reducing these tax breaks.
In addition, the pace of datacenter construction is outpacing the ability of regional energy grids to supply enough juice, as a consequence of which Americans could face a 70 percent hike in their electricity bills by 2030 unless action is taken.
. . .
Dare I suggest that some state/local officials may also be profiting in some fashion by allowing these deals to go through with little to no transparency?
1 replies
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