Earlier this week, I wrote about the growing backlash against the secrecy surrounding AI data centers.
One of the biggest problems for residents is that you can't object to, ask questions about or even investigate a data center if you don't know one is coming. And apparently, searching your town's planning agenda for the words "data center" may not be enough.
A new report from Erin Brockovich and Suzanne Boothby highlights some of the surprisingly ordinary language that can appear in zoning applications, permits and council agendas long before a massive data center project is publicly identified.
That matters as the AI boom moves beyond the traditional data center hubs. According to Pew Research Center, 67% of planned U.S. data centers are in rural areas, while 39% are planned for counties that don't currently have one.
So if you're wondering whether one could be headed for your community, here are seven terms worth knowing.
1. Light industrial
This might be one of the easiest phrases to overlook. Many local zoning codes were written before anyone had to figure out where to put an enormous building filled with thousands of servers and GPUs. As a result, there may not actually be a zoning category for "data center."
Instead, developers can seek land zoned for "light industrial" or "heavy industrial" uses.
That doesn't mean every light-industrial zoning request is secretly a data center. But a request involving a particularly large piece of land — especially one near major electrical infrastructure — may be worth investigating.
In Coweta County, Georgia, for example, early discussions around what eventually became the enormous Project Sail data center included rezoning rural land for light industrial use. The project is now planned as a nine-building data center campus covering more than four million square feet.
2. Data processing
This one sounds almost comically mundane considering what it can describe.
Rather than "AI data center," local documents may use terms such as "data processing," "data hosting" or "data processing and related services."
Again, this doesn't mean something is being hidden, but it means searching local government websites only for "data center" could cause you to miss relevant documents.
The Brockovich Report points to Ashville, Ohio, where the village's own data center moratorium referred to uses involving "data processing, hosting and related services."
3. Technology campus
"Technology campus," "technology park," "advanced manufacturing" and even "flex space" can cover a wide range of legitimate developments. They can also encompass data centers.
A huge parcel of land, nearby high-voltage transmission lines, plans for a new electrical substation, backup generators or unusually large power requirements can tell you far more than the project's branding.
That's particularly important because a "technology campus" sounds very different from what residents may eventually see: enormous windowless buildings packed with servers, cooling equipment and electrical infrastructure.
4. A mysterious 'Project [Something]'
Project Sail. Project Louie. Project Baccara. Project Stratos. Once you start reading about proposed data centers, mysterious project names appear everywhere.
Companies commonly use codenames while assembling land and planning major developments, so spotting "Project Whatever" doesn't mean Google or Microsoft is secretly moving into town.
But it's another reason to look beyond recognizable company names.
Project Sail in Georgia, for example, was originally associated publicly with Atlas Development rather than Prologis, the giant industrial real-estate company now developing the data center campus.
In Indiana, environmental permitting documents for something called "Project Louie" identify plans for a six-building data center campus.
5. An LLC you've never heard of
This is probably the biggest reason Googling "Is Amazon building a data center near me?" probably won't get you very far. Land purchases and development applications can be made through LLCs or real-estate affiliates rather than the company that will eventually use the site.
There are legitimate business reasons for doing this. Keeping a buyer's identity private while assembling a large site, for example, can prevent land prices from soaring as soon as word gets out that a trillion-dollar tech company is interested.
But for residents, it makes following a project considerably harder.
If an unfamiliar LLC suddenly appears on documents involving hundreds of acres of land, try searching the company name in your state's corporate registry. Look at the people associated with it, its registered address and whether those names connect to other developments.
6. Development agreement or term sheet
If I saw these words on a town council agenda, up until recently I might skip over them. But here's why you should look closely at these keywords: A development agreement, framework or term sheet can spell out what a developer and local government have already discussed, including infrastructure improvements, tax arrangements and money for schools, roads or emergency services.
The details can also reveal the scale of a project long before the name of its eventual tenant becomes public.
One thing I'd look for in particular is new infrastructure. If an agreement suddenly includes millions of dollars for water-system upgrades, electrical infrastructure or road construction connected to an industrial project, it's worth asking why those upgrades are necessary and who will use them.
7. Emergency
Strange one to be on the list, I know. But an "emergency" resolution can change how quickly a government action takes effect.
That's what makes Ashville, Ohio, such an interesting example.
According to the Brockovich Report, a data center permit there was filed on a Friday. The following Monday, the village council approved an emergency 180-day moratorium on data center zoning permits. Two days later, the permit was issued anyway.
The dispute has since made its way into the courts.
For residents, the takeaway is simply that "emergency" is one of those words I'd stop scrolling for if it appeared beside a major land-use or development decision.
The takeaway
All of these key words matter most when you put the clues together because noe of the terms prove much of anything on their own.
Local planning and zoning agendas are usually posted online, as are meeting minutes and many permit applications. Property records can tell you who bought the land, while state corporate databases can help identify who's behind an unfamiliar LLC.
Utility regulators are another place to look. A data center that isn't named publicly may still need an enormous amount of electricity, and substations, transmission upgrades and other infrastructure can leave their own paper trail.
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