Amazon vows $1 bn for data center towns, decries 'myths'
Amazon announced a $1 billion, five-year program to support communities hosting its U.S. data centers through workforce training, community college programs and energy-efficiency upgrades. The company also pledged to disclose energy and water use, avoid increasing local electricity bills and stop using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies on data center projects.
Amazon Web Services Chief Executive Matt Garman announced the company’s “Built Together” program, which will invest more than $1 billion over five years in U.S. communities that host Amazon data centers. The initiative includes free community college and trades training, along with energy-efficiency improvements for schools and homes.
Amazon also introduced a data center commitment promising that its facilities will not raise local electricity bills and that the company will publish annual energy and water-use figures. Garman said Amazon would stop using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies on its projects, addressing a major concern among opponents of data center development.
Garman defended the national data center buildout as important to U.S. competitiveness and national security, while disputing claims that facilities raise power costs, deplete water supplies or cause pollution. The article notes that more than 100 local moratoriums are under consideration nationwide and that researchers say concerns about foreign disinformation have overstated the role of outside influence in grassroots opposition.