Ford wants to pause all tax breaks for Nevada data centers
Nevada's gubernatorial candidates, incumbent Joe Lombardo and challenger Aaron Ford, are divided on data center policies, with the issue being a significant topic in the upcoming election. Ford proposes pausing all tax breaks for data centers and auditing their resource usage, citing community concerns over water and electricity. NV Energy reports substantial new demand from data centers, while the Truckee Meadows Water Authority indicates relatively low water usage for Reno-area data centers.
The upcoming Nevada gubernatorial election features data center development as a central "hot-button topic," with incumbent Republican Governor Joe Lombardo and Democratic challenger Attorney General Aaron Ford holding opposing views.
Attorney General Ford, if elected, plans to pause all tax abatements for data centers, audit their operations, and ensure they do not increase consumer electricity rates or overdraw water resources. Ford states his current stance is a response to community concerns about resource usage, despite having sponsored the 2015 Nevada Senate Bill that established the tax break program. The Governor’s Office counters that the Office of Economic Development already conducts biennial audits on data centers' capital investment, jobs, and wages. State documents show approximately $330 million in tax abatements awarded to data center projects in Nevada from 2021 to 2024, with $233 million granted during Governor Lombardo's tenure.
Regarding infrastructure impact, NV Energy reports requests for service totaling around 22,000 megawatts of new demand, nearly three times Nevada's total peak electric demand in 2025, and is working to ensure data centers bear their own energy costs. The Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) in the Reno area stated that six fully operational data centers would use about 20-22 acre-feet of water annually, which is a small fraction of the 90,000 acre-feet their system uses per year. Governor Lombardo has expressed strong support for data centers, believing they do not significantly strain resources. His Political Action Committee, Better Nevada PAC, has received $2 million in donations from individuals connected to the data center industry, including $1 million from Jessica Roy, wife of Switch founder Rob Roy.