Everyone Agrees Data Centers Should Pay. Washington Won’t Make Them.
Seven AI companies voluntarily pledged to protect ratepayers. A House committee voted 52–0 to ask states to consider it. Pennsylvania has four bills the Senate has not passed.
Compound Impact
Independent research on the climate, capital, and community choices reshaping AI infrastructure.
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Writing the Rules in Real Time
In Lancaster, a data center zoning ordinance arrived after the projects it was meant to govern — that same week three governors showed how differently a state can act.
The Money That Never Arrives
Nine years after Maria, most of Puerto Rico's grid money still hasn't moved — and the same machinery is failing the communities financing the AI buildout.
Charged Decisions: Who’s Holding the Pen Now?
An expansion of executive power over independent agencies leaves unanswered questions about who protects ratepayers in a deepening affordability crisis.
We, the People, are Not the Problem
Pope Leo XIV, MLK, and the Structural Conditions We Must Confront
New Things, Old Arguments
On the condition of communities in the age of AI
Who’s Holding the Pen on Rates?
Public Utility Commissions are writing the rules — deciding who pays
Who Pays for the AI Buildout?
What the FY2027 federal budget reveals about who bears the cost of America’s AI buildout — and what capital allocators need to understand now
What Happens Inside the Pause?
Signals Brief #11 (2026.04.06) | Moratoriums create the space to address energy insecure Americans in crisis
Where the Grid Fails First
Signals Brief #10 (2026.03.30) | First Principles Emerge for Data Centers