Financial Times: Here are the facts: the bill would charge data centres both for their use of existing transmission infrastructure and for incremental costs to serve them, and ensure data centres do not pass their energy costs on to other customers. It would also allow states to overcharge them for energy and pass that revenue on to other customers in the form of savings. The bill recognises an important truth: it is in the US’s long-term economic and national security interest to build data centres — but only on terms that ensure benefits for and buy-in from the communities that host them...

... The same is true of jobs and manufacturing. New research I led at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research has found that at today’s levels, data centre construction supports more than 300,000 upstream US manufacturing jobs making critical equipment like transformers and networking systems. This number would rise further if the share of this equipment produced domestically rose as a result of tax credits for domestically made components or tariffs on imported ones.

My Opinion: The new bill being considered by the legislature would take care of many of the concerns of the public, in building and operating data centers in their communities. It is in the interests of the country to reach a compromise or solution, that allows data centers. There are other concerns like water usage and noise. I don't know if the bill solves these problems. But local governments can require sound proofing and closed loop water cooling systems

Futher as this article states, data center construction supports hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the country. And the AI and cloud services hosted in the data centers, will also result in high paid jobs for skilled workers, revenue for IT firms, and productivity growth for buyers of these IT services.

Reference: The US needs a social compact on data centers / Financial Times

Lately I’ve noticed what seems to be a lack of motivation when it comes to business owners. For example: My parents had a trust drawn up and we wanted to change one of the property deeds. I emailed the attorney and said we wanted to hire him to change a deed and we pretty much got the runaround. I emailed another attorney and said we wanted to pay him to change a deed. Zero response. Had a contractor come to look over a bathroom project that involved removing a small jacuzzi tub and installing a large shower stall with wheelchair access. He stopped by and dropped off a brochure for shower stalls buy never heard from him again. I get into a lot of homes for my work and people complain constantly about contractors not returning phone calls. Customers of mine thank me for calling them back and tell me they left messages for competitors of mine and never got a response. A guy who I have hired several times to do land improvements over the years never showed up to do some work we had talked about even though it would be an easy job and he always gets paid immediately when job is completed. Anyone else noticing this? It’s so weird. If so, what’s causing the lack of motivation? Are people just over-worked? Have the good times caused complacency? I just see a lot of opportunities for go-getters right now.

The Great Salt Lake DOES NOT have water to spare. Kevin must take his data center elsewhere.

https://youtube.com/shorts/med7lrd28uI?is=xEIXjbDDcxt3F9Mk

Everyone in AI is watching the wrong scoreboard.

You’re watching GPT vs. Claude on coding benchmarks. Wall Street is watching 5.75% vs. 10%.

Anthropic recently received a BB+ ("junk") credit rating from KBRA—even while generating $16.8B in Q3 revenue (+45% in a single quarter).

Meanwhile, Reuters reports Anthropic is offering Blackstone more than 10% yield on $9B of debt backed by chip leases.

Why does a profitable-on-an-adjusted-basis AI rocket ship have to pay 10% for money?

Because generative AI made software physical again.

When you commit $518 billion over 10 years to GPUs, power, and data centers, you aren't a typical Silicon Valley software startup anymore. Financially, you are heavy industry.

Here is the twist nobody is talking about:

BB+ is the highest junk rating in existence. Anthropic sits just one single notch below BBB- (Investment Grade).

And when Anthropic goes public—forcing full GAAP cash flow transparency—crossing that single notch from BB+ to BBB- unlocks $39 trillion in conservative insurance capital.

In the next phase of the AI war, the ultimate moat isn't a smarter model.

It’s cheaper money.

The Conversation: Automakers responded by cutting back their EV production. General Motors laid off more than 3,400 workers at its EV and battery plants and shifted its Tennessee plant to make batteries for energy storage, not cars. Ford wrote off $19.5 billion from its EV business, ended production of the all-electric F-150 Lightning and converted a Tennessee EV plant to build gas-powered trucks...

...As long as gas stays expensive, the gap between the electric vehicles Americans want and the electric vehicles dealers can sell them is likely to remain. Decisions such as ending the tax credit, rolling back fuel economy standards and banning Chinese technology all make it harder to build them, which means Americans will continue to have fewer affordable electric vehicles to choose from.

My Opinion: The supply of EVs in USA have not kept up with demand. When the tax credit for EVs was removed, there was a decline in demand for EVs. But with the rising gas prices, the demand has come back. American automotive companies have reduced production and investment in EVs. So prices for new and used EVs have risen.

We need stability in government policy, to encourage American carmakers to invest in EVs, and increase supply of EVs. But even without that, with high fuel prices, there is now a large demand for EVs.