Technology

Battleground Governor’s Trump Permitting Pact Pours Fuel On Data Center Fire

Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour

Data centers appear to be becoming a liability for a Republican governor locked in one of the nation’s tightest midterm races.

Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo signed an Aug. 31 agreement opting the state into the Trump administration’s fast-track permitting process, which could speed data center construction on federal land, NBC News reported. Data centers have emerged as a midterm wedge issue across the nation, with a pollster close to President Donald Trump warning in a September memo that Republican candidates who throw their full support behind new data centers are on the wrong side of the voters.

“This agreement will help Nevada cut through unnecessary delays, improve coordination with our federal partners, and move critical projects forward,” Lombardo said in an Aug. 31 press release, announcing the agreement. “By making the permitting process more efficient and predictable, we can support responsible growth, strengthen our economy, and deliver results for Nevadans.”

The agreement with the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council enrolls Nevada in FAST-41, a federal program that coordinates environmental reviews and sets public timelines for major infrastructure projects, according to the council’s Aug. 31 announcement. 

The deal puts Lombardo on the unpopular side of the data center debate, with 59 percent of Nevada likely voters opposed to data center construction near them, a Sept. 10 Emerson College poll found. Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is challenging Lombardo’s reelection bid, held a narrow two-point lead over Lombardo among likely voters in the governor’s race — a lead within the survey’s margin of error.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Nevada gubernatorial race as a “toss up.”

Nevada is one of more than a half-dozen Republican-led states to sign such an agreement with the administration, after Alaska, Idaho, Missouri, Tennessee, Utah, Georgia, Louisiana and Iowa, the announcement stated.

“I’m wholeheartedly in support of data centers because currently we’re not having that draw on the resources, the limitation of our resources, within our environment as a result of data centers,” Lombardo told 2 News Nevada in May.

He then said he backs the projects only if “appropriate guardrails” are in place at an Aug. 21 Latin Chamber of Commerce event in Las Vegas.

Drew Galang, Lombardo’s communications director, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that none of the projects in the FAST-41 program are data centers on federal land in Nevada. The only two data center projects in the program are Virginia and Ohio, he said.

“Governor Lombardo’s position is clear: data centers must have community support, protect Nevada’s water, pay their own energy and infrastructure costs, and comply with all permitting processes — regardless of whether they are built on public or private land,” Galang said.

Lombardo signed an executive order Sept. 17 requiring data center developers to cover their project costs so they aren’t passed on to ratepayers.

Ford once backed the industry, co-sponsoring legislation in 2015 that created Nevada’s data center tax breaks

His record is now the target of $2 million in ads from Strategic Horizons, a political action committee tied to Nevada’s largest teachers union, Clark County Education Association, which endorsed Lombardo for governor.

“The data centers of 11 years ago are not the data centers of 2026. … The dynamics have changed,” Ford said at an August Nevada Independent event when asked about his past support for the projects.

Ford’s campaign did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

The Democrat has pledged to pause new data center tax breaks and ban water-intensive evaporative cooling if elected.

“When I’m Governor, Joe Lombardo’s gravy train for data centers is coming to an end,” Ford said in an Aug. 19 press release. “I’m going to implement some of the strictest rules in America: data centers will need to bring their own water or coolant, pay for their own electricity so ratepayers’ bills don’t go up, and actually deliver the sustainable high-paying jobs and tax revenue they’ve promised.”

Ford co-sponsored legislation that created Nevada’s data center tax breaks in 2015.