Tech companies and local officials are covering data center talks in NDAs
By fields of cotton and soybeans where his bees forage and pollinate, Foster Hensel pries open the lid of one of his beehives, setting off a rising hum from inside.
asserted
Hensel → cover → hum
"You hear the difference in the sound?" he asks, pumping the bellows of a small smoker to try and settle the bees.
asserted
he → hear → bees
"They're getting a little aggravated."
What has Hensel concerned is a few miles down the road.
asserted
Hensel → get → road
In Boyce, a small town in Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, construction is starting on a 300-acre data center site.
asserted
construction → start → site
The beekeeper worries the new warehouse-like facilities will raise his utility bills or change the local environment.
asserted
facilities → worry → environment
And he asks why there's not more information.
asserted
he → ask → ?
"Let me quote a good writer, Shakespeare — there's something rotten in Denmark," Hensel said.
asserted
Hensel → let → Denmark
The negotiations between the data center developer — Dallas-based Applied Digital Corp. — and local officials were shielded under nondisclosure agreements (NDAs).
In Rapides Parish, the secrecy left residents with unanswered questions and distrust of their local leaders.
asserted
secrecy → base → leaders
But the use of NDAs for negotiations on data centers is common across the country, according to experts and those in the industry.
uncertain
use → accord → industry
And the practice has faced opposition from the public and some lawmakers.
asserted
practice → face → public
Bills to ban NDAs for data centers have been introduced in several states, including Michigan, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Ohio.
asserted
Bills → ban → Michigan
Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro banned their use on data center projects by agencies he oversees.
asserted
he → ban → agencies
He and his research partner found that NDAs were used in at least 25 of 31 data center projects they surveyed there last year.
asserted
they → find → projects
He said NDAs seem to be "standard practice."
asserted
NDAs → say → ?
"After we published our research," Bonds said, "we heard back from reporters and activists kind of around the country from Arizona, Indiana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania."
asserted
we → publish → Pennsylvania
Companies and local officials who sign nondisclosure agreements say they're needed to protect corporate secrets and to negotiate freely.
asserted
they → sign → secrets
But experts say they also give data center developers an edge as they move from county to county — in this case, parish to parish — seeking the best deals.
asserted
they → say → deals
"Information is power, and these folks, they're powerful, and they want to make a lot of money, so they're going to control information as closely as they can so they have an advantage," said David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida.
asserted
Cuillier → want → Florida
Records requests filed by the Gulf States Newsroom and Type Investigations turned up at least 54 NDAs signed by elected officials in Louisiana about various types of projects since Gov. Jeff Landry took office in early 2024.
asserted
Landry → file → 2024
They include the ones in Rapides and others for data centers.
asserted
They → include → centers
"Transparency in Louisiana isn't very good," Cuillier said.
asserted
Cuillier → say → Louisiana
Some NDAs used "Project Lightning" for the data center
In Boyce, La., a town of about 1,000 people, some residents complain that the project was kept under wraps until it was too late to halt construction.
asserted
it → use → construction
So far, fences have gone up and earthmovers are clearing the ground for the project.
asserted
earthmovers → go → project
Initial operations at the facility could begin as soon as mid-2027.
uncertain
operations → begin → mid-2027
The deal comes with a state sales tax break on data center equipment, part of a broader effort by Louisiana officials to compete with other states for AI investment.
asserted
deal → come → investment
At least five state senators, the Rapides Parish assessor and every member of the state-created industrial development board that negotiated the deal signed NDAs, according to documents obtained through records requests.
uncertain
that → create → requests
The contracts, under code names "Project Lightning" and "Project Pixel," prohibited the release of information to the public.
asserted
contracts → prohibit → public
The project has since been named Delta Forge 1 — a $3.6 billion campus that the state announced will draw 300 megawatts of electricity in its first phase.
asserted
state → name → phase
That's enough to power roughly 200,000 homes on a summer day, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
uncertain
That → power → Administration
Some of the NDAs for the project were signed in December 2024 between Applied Digital and members of a state agency called Louisiana Economic Development.
asserted
Some → sign → agency
Other NDAs were signed in January of this year between Applied Digital and the local, state-created board that negotiated the deal.
asserted
that → sign → deal
It approved the deal on April 23 in a public meeting with little discussion.
asserted
It → approve → discussion
The state put out a press release announcing it in May.
uncertain
state → put → May
Residents speak out against NDAs in a heated town hall
Then tempers flared in June at a town hall held in a hot gym in Boyce that was livestreamed by local resident Shannon McManus on Facebook.
asserted
that → speak → Facebook
"Our politicians were elected to represent us, not to represent industry," resident Robert Maddox told the EEIDD, representatives of the company and the crowd, which cheered in response.
asserted
which → elect → response
Others pressed for information on the impact the project would have on water and power resources and the environment.
asserted
project → press → resources
"We live here," Robert McLane, the pastor of Cotile Baptist Church in Boyce, said during the meeting.
asserted
McLane → live → meeting
"Our children go to school here.
asserted
children → go → school
We want to know how it impacts us."
asserted
it → want → us
Officials and company representatives said the findings of an environmental study conducted by a third party showed the impact would be negligible.
asserted
impact → say → party
…and 41 more, not listed.
