After voters rejected data centers, OpenAI promises to pay its own power costs and stop secrecy deals with officials

OpenAI on Thursday published a set of promises to communities where it builds data centers, two days after voters turned against data center projects at the polls.

Data centers are large buildings packed with computers that train and run AI tools such as ChatGPT.  They use huge amounts of electricity, and many use water for cooling, which has led residents to worry about higher utility bills and strained supplies.  On Tuesday, voters backed limits or rejected pro-development measures in all but one of 41 local ballot measures in 10 states, CNBC reported, citing Ballotpedia.

In its new National Community Compact, OpenAI said that at future campuses it owns and operates it will pay the full cost of the electricity it uses and the grid upgrades needed to serve it, with financial guarantees so other customers are protected if a project is cut or canceled.  It said it will publish each site’s water and power use, construction plans and noise studies, and favor cooling that uses little water.  It also said it will not require public officials to sign nondisclosure agreements, or secrecy contracts, except for narrow security and trade-secret details.

A separate policy blueprint asks state utility regulators to make big power users cover the grid costs they add, and asks that tax breaks for data centers be made public with a way to take them back if a company falls short.

The debate is local, too.  San Jose is drafting review standards for data center projects covering water, power, noise and air quality, and some residents have pushed for a moratorium, San José Spotlight reported in August.

Source:  OpenAI, Nov. 5, 2026; National Community Compact; CNBC, Nov. 5, 2026