By the Founders, Department of Technology | San Diego, California | November 13, 2026
Voters deserve specific answers about who pays for data centers, who is accountable, and what happens if AI does not deliver. Here are ten questions you can put to any candidate or sitting official, with the evidence behind each, what a strong answer sounds like, and what evasion looks like.
This is a nonpartisan tool. We score the quality of an answer, meaning whether it is specific, honest about tradeoffs and accountable, and not whether it matches our views. A candidate who answers concretely in favor of a policy we would not choose earns the same points as one who answers concretely against it. Send the same ten questions to every candidate, give everyone the same deadline, and publish the answers word for word.
How to score
For each question, give each answer 0, 1 or 2 points:
- 2 points: a clear position, a specific mechanism, and an honest acknowledgment of a tradeoff or limit.
- 1 point: a clear position without a mechanism, or a mechanism without a position.
- 0 points: no answer, a deflection, or generalities that could mean anything.
A total of 16 to 20 suggests a candidate who has thought hard about the whole picture. A total of 10 to 15 suggests a developing view. Below 10 suggests the issue has not yet been taken seriously. This is a conversation tool, not a scientific rating, and we encourage independent groups, newsrooms and civic organizations to score the answers themselves.
Question 1: Who is accountable?
The question: If a data center proposal comes before your body, who in government is responsible for weighing power, water, land, taxes and jobs together? Who should be?
Why it matters: The pieces of this decision are split among utility commissions, economic development offices, zoning boards and treasurers, and no one answers to voters for the combination.
A strong answer names a person or office and a mechanism, such as a standing committee, a technology director or an elected leader, and says how voters can hold them to account.
Red flags: “The market will sort it out,” or an answer that lists existing agencies without saying who coordinates them.
Question 2: Will you sign secret agreements?
The question: Will you sign a nondisclosure agreement about a development project, and will you support limits on them?
Why it matters: An NBC News review of more than 30 data center proposals in 14 states found that in a majority of cases local officials signed NDAs. Records requests in Louisiana turned up 54 NDAs signed by elected officials since early 2024. Microsoft says it is working to end active NDAs governments have signed.
A strong answer gives a clear yes or no, says when confidentiality ends (for example, before any public vote), and explains how legitimate trade secrets would be protected.
Red flags: “NDAs are standard practice” with no limit, or a blanket promise with no mention of how negotiations would work.
Question 3: Who pays for the grid?
The question: Should the largest new electricity users pay the full cost of the grid upgrades built to serve them? Should that be mandatory or optional, and what minimum commitments should they make?
Why it matters: The Ratepayer Protection Act passed the House 417 to 3 and then failed a Senate procedural vote 57 to 43, largely over whether the protection should be optional or mandatory. At the state level, 23 states had approved at least one large-load tariff as of May. Ohio’s AEP tariff requires 85 percent minimum payments and at least twelve-year contracts, and Dominion’s Virginia tariff requires 14-year contracts and $1.5 million per megawatt of collateral.
A strong answer takes a side on mandatory versus optional and names at least one term, such as minimum bills, contract length, collateral or exit fees.
Red flags: “Make Big Tech pay their fair share” with no mechanism, or “markets will handle it.”
Question 4: Do you support tax breaks, and on what conditions?
The question: Do you support tax incentives for data centers? If so, what conditions, such as job targets, sunset dates and clawbacks, should come with them? If not, why not?
Why it matters: Thirty-eight states offer data center incentives, and at least 28 considered scaling them back this year. In Ohio, the break cost state and local governments about $2 billion in a year. The jobs are mostly temporary: an Illinois study projected 121,000 jobs from $57 billion of investment, but only 2,800 permanent direct positions, while a Reno facility’s records estimated 73 permanent jobs.
A strong answer takes a position either way, separates temporary from permanent jobs, and says how results would be measured.
Red flags: Quoting job totals without saying how many are permanent, or promising “jobs and growth” without numbers.
Question 5: Who gets a say before approval?
The question: Should data centers be allowed by right, or should each one require a public hearing and discretionary approval? Where should the final decision sit?
Why it matters: Loudoun County eliminated by-right zoning for data centers, and Harrisonburg, Virginia, moved them to special-use permits. Loudoun also credits favorable zoning and fast approvals for accelerating its growth. There is a real tradeoff between speed and consent.
A strong answer describes a process, such as hearings, timelines and standards, and acknowledges the tradeoff.
Red flags: “Let the community decide” with no process, or “get out of the way” with no protection for residents.
Question 6: What about water, land and cleanup?
The question: What studies, standards and financial guarantees should a data center have to meet for water, noise, farmland and eventual closure?
Why it matters: Linn County, Iowa, requires a water study and a water-use agreement before construction and also covers decommissioning bonds. Few places have anything comparable.
A strong answer names specific requirements and who would enforce them.
Red flags: “Environmentally responsible” with no specifics.
Question 7: How do we build enough, fast enough?
The question: How would you make sure America builds enough power and computing capacity to compete, without bypassing the public?
Why it matters: BloombergNEF expects China to add more than six times as much generating capacity as the United States over five years, and Morgan Stanley has forecast a 44-gigawatt shortfall for U.S. data centers. At the same time, AEP Ohio’s pipeline reportedly fell from roughly 30 GW to 13 GW once it had a tariff, so not every request is real.
A strong answer addresses generation, transmission and permitting, and distinguishes real projects from speculative ones.
Red flags: An answer that is only “beat China” or only “stop the data centers.”
Question 8: Who bears the loss if the boom slows?
The question: If AI investment slows or reverses, who bears the losses, and what would you do now so residents are not left holding the bag?
Why it matters: Hyperscalers will spend about $750 billion this year, borrowing heavily. Jefferies warns that AI investment was the main driver of U.S. economic growth last year after consumer spending, and The Economist notes that more than half the spending goes to equipment that becomes obsolete within a few years.
A strong answer names protections such as collateral, minimum bills, exit fees or cleanup bonds, without predicting a crash.
Red flags: Either “this can’t fail” or doom with no plan.
Question 9: What is your plan for the tax base?
The question: Has your government modeled what happens to revenue if AI displaces significant work, or if data center revenue falls? What reserves and triggers are in place?
Why it matters: A RAND analysis found that 84 percent of federal revenue comes from individual and payroll taxes. Loudoun County reports that data centers generate 38 percent of its general fund revenue, and New York City’s Comptroller recommended a reserve of 16 percent of annual tax revenue in response to AI risk.
A strong answer says what share of revenue is exposed and describes a scenario plan and reserve.
Red flags: “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Question 10: Should Congress override state AI laws?
The question: Should federal law preempt state AI rules? If so, what federal protections and enforcement would replace them, and who would administer them? (For state and local candidates: what role should your jurisdiction keep?)
Why it matters: The Senate voted 99 to 1 against an early preemption proposal, while 29 states enacted AI legislation in 2026. Even the White House’s approach would leave data center infrastructure to the states.
A strong answer takes a position, names the enforcement mechanism and says who is accountable for it.
Red flags: “Washington can’t be trusted” or “states can’t be trusted” with no alternative.
Which questions fit which office
- City council or county board: Questions 1, 2, 5, 6 and 9.
- State legislature or governor: Questions 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 10.
- Congress: Questions 3, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
- Bonus question for everyone: Will you publish your meetings with developers, utilities and lobbyists on this issue?
The case against our case
- Scorecards reward rehearsed answers. A well-coached candidate can sound specific without meaning it. That is why we ask for mechanisms and why we suggest publishing answers in full and comparing them with later votes.
- Not every office has the power. A county commissioner cannot set federal policy, and a member of Congress cannot rezone land. The “which office” guide above is meant to keep the questions fair.
- Ten questions oversimplify. Real issues have more dimensions, and some candidates will rightly say “it depends.” We would count a thoughtful “it depends”, with the conditions named, as a strong answer.
- We might be seen as scoring for our side. Our proposal for elected technology leaders is not the only acceptable answer to Question 1, and a different structure can score full points. We would prefer that a neutral organization do the scoring.
Print-ready list
- Who in government is responsible for weighing power, water, land, taxes and jobs together, and who should be?
- Will you sign a nondisclosure agreement about a development project, and will you support limits on them?
- Should the largest new electricity users pay the full cost of grid upgrades built to serve them, and should that be mandatory or optional?
- Do you support tax incentives for data centers, and on what conditions?
- Should data centers be allowed by right, or require a public hearing and discretionary approval?
- What studies, standards and guarantees should a data center meet for water, noise, land and cleanup?
- How would you make sure America builds enough power and capacity to compete, without bypassing the public?
- If AI investment slows, who bears the losses, and what would you do now to protect residents?
- Has your government modeled what happens to revenue if AI displaces work or data center revenue falls?
- Should Congress override state AI laws, and if so, what replaces them and who administers it?
Use it
Send these to every candidate and every sitting official you can reach, at every level, and ask for answers in writing by a stated date. Publish what comes back. If you are a candidate, answer before you are asked. Our proposal is at department.technology/.