Insights from Yotta 2026 on a More Community-Minded Approach to Digital Infrastructure
The pace of data center development has changed dramatically. AI is accelerating demand for new capacity, projects are growing in scale, and developers are navigating increasingly complex decisions about power, land and infrastructure.
At the same time, communities are taking a closer look at what these developments mean for their neighborhoods.
That changing dynamic was the focus of “Building Community Trust in Digital Infrastructure,” the opening session at Yotta 2026 in Las Vegas, led by JSA Founder and CEO Jaymie Scotto Cutaia and EVP of Business Strategy and Development Candace Sipos. Jack Backes, Executive Vice President of Inference Development at Provident Data Centers, joined the JSA team for a candid discussion on the evolving relationship between data center development and local communities across the country.
The group explored what a more community-minded approach to development looks like in practice – and how expectations are influencing the way projects are planned, designed and delivered.
Rethinking Data Center Development
The industry's current environment reflects two competing forces: acceleration and constraint.
Demand for AI infrastructure is moving rapidly, but the path from site selection to development approval is becoming more complex. Power availability remains a major consideration, while community engagement is taking on greater importance.
The following statistics illustrate the current building landscape:
Of the 250 data center projects announced globally between 2021 and 2024 with energy demands exceeding 100 MW, about half of them will be delayed or ultimately not move forward. (Uptime Institute Global Data Center Survey)
In the U.S., at least 833 local opposition groups are operating across 49 states. (Data Center Watch)
Also here in the States, data center project cancellations more than quadrupled in 2025, while 75 projects worth over $130 billion were delayed or cancelled in Q1 of this year alone. (Data Center Watch)
Although Americans’ expectations for how AI will affect the country — and their views toward regulation — have remained about the same since March, opposition to a data center built in their area has risen by 12 points. (Annenberg Public Policy Center)
Behind those figures are communities asking questions about the potential impact of data centers on local power and water resources, utility costs, noise, health, property values and proximity to residential areas.
For developers, that means navigating a wider range of interests and expectations, often earlier in the development process.
A recent Provident project offers a telling example. Securing a special use permit took approximately two years, despite the property already being zoned for industrial use.
“The fact that it was a data center became a lightning rod,” Jack recalled.
The experience reflects a broader change in how development decisions are made. As Jack observed, “A few years ago a data center project was mostly a conversation with city staff and the city council,” he said, adding that local residents weren’t really concerned. “That world is gone.”
Community-Minded Development Starts with Design
One of the most practical insights from the discussion was that community considerations are increasingly influencing development decisions well before a project reaches a public hearing.
Provident, which has completed roughly 7,500 megawatts of powered land, powered shell and turnkey development this cycle, describes its approach as designing facilities to be “a good neighbor first.”
That approach begins with site selection. It also influences facility design, including the use of dry cooling and closed-loop systems to reduce water consumption, quieter cooling equipment and defined generator testing schedules to address noise, and appropriate buffers and separation from homes, parks and community buildings.
These are meaningful development decisions, not simply community engagement tactics. They reflect the growing importance of considering local impacts alongside technical and commercial requirements.
Listening to the Community
While site selection and design can address many concerns, every project and community has its own priorities and history. That makes listening to community concerns critically important.
In addition, community benefit agreements are expected to become increasingly common as communities look beyond general projections of tax revenue to understand what a development will mean locally. For example, in one Provident development, the company committed to an agricultural conservation zone that funds the ongoing protection of local farmland. “These are very concrete commitments,” Jack emphasized.
For communities, those commitments provide something tangible, Jack noted. “We are guests in their community.”
Building Community Trust Through Accountability
The discussion also raised a question that extends beyond any individual development: how can communities independently verify that commitments are being met?
“We really need something somewhat like LEED certification as an industry,” Jack suggested.
Organizations such as iMasons could potentially contribute to developing such standards.
The underlying opportunity is significant: giving communities a clearer way to evaluate developer commitments and track whether they're being fulfilled.
What Comes Next
The need for AI infrastructure is unlikely to slow, and the expectations surrounding new projects are continuing to evolve.
The Yotta discussion highlighted several ways those expectations are influencing development: more deliberate site selection, facility designs that account for local impacts, earlier community engagement, specific community commitments and greater interest in independent accountability.
None of these considerations is entirely new to experienced developers. What is changing is their prominence in development decisions and the level of attention they receive from communities.
As Jaymie summarized at the close of the YOTTA discussion, as the industry continues to grow, how companies show up in communities as good neighbors is going to matter just as much as how quickly they can build.
For an industry focused on accelerating infrastructure delivery, that is one of the most important considerations shaping the next phase of growth.
