Broadband Breakfast on September 16, 2026: How Data Center Builders See The Politics

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As AI Data Centers Surge, Builders Confront the Politics of Power

At the AI Infra Summit, experts said the future of data centers hinges less on AI itself and more on securing electricity and community trust.

Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast

Data centers have become a political story as much as an infrastructure one. Local zoning fights, electricity rates, water use and state tax incentives now shape where and whether new capacity gets built, and the companies putting steel in the ground are having to make their case to skeptical neighbors, utility commissions and state legislatures. This session, which will take place live from the AI Infra Summit in Santa Clara, Calif., will bring together the developers, utility partners and policy advisers behind data center buildouts. We’ll talk about what the opposition gets right (if anything), what it gets wrong, and how the industry is adjusting its approach to AI data centers.

Panelists

• Ed Nelson, Strategy Director & C0-Founder, AI Infra Summit
• Joe Wells, Founder and Chief Growth Officer, Data Center Signals
• Drew Clark (moderator), CEO and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

As the strategy director and c0-founder of the AI Infra Summit, Ed Nelson has been part of a team creating world-class conferences in the AI infrastructure industry since 2018. Currently celebrating its 10th year, the AI Infra Summit network spans some of the most well-known names in AI, plus C-level and board leadership at hyperscalers, large enterprises, and disruptors.

Joe Wells launched Data Center Signals to give the digital infrastructure industry an independent voice focused on practical insight, meaningful conversations, and the signals shaping the future of data centers, AI infrastructure, connectivity, power, and cloud. The mission is not just to report on the industry, but to help decision-makers stay informed, aligned, and prepared for what comes next.

Breakfast Media LLC CEO Drew Clark has led the Broadband Breakfast community since 2008. An early proponent of better broadband, better lives, he initially founded the Broadband Census crowdsourcing tool to collect and verify broadband data left unpublished by the Federal Communications Commission. As CEO and Publisher, Clark presides over the leading media community advocating for higher-capacity internet everywhere through topical, timely and intelligent coverage. Clark also served as head of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a state broadband initiative.

Panelist Resources

• Broadband Breakfast's May 13, 2026, event, "The Politics of Data Centers":

Data Center Boom Strains Communities, Some Panelists Say

The issue may have already hardened into a defining political issue of 2026.

Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast

• Chip Pickering: Data Centers are America's Most Misunderstood Infrastructure Asset, Broadband Breakfast, May 21, 2026

Chip Pickering: Data Centers are America’s Most Misunderstood Infrastructure Asset

The case for data centers rests on meaningful tax revenue, durable jobs, grid investment and the digital infrastructure that lets rural communities share in the AI economy.

Broadband BreakfastChip Pickering

• Lindsay Miller and Doug McCollough: Providers Can Better Manage the Risks of America’s Data Center Debate, May 28, 2026, Broadband Breakfast

Lindsay Miller and Doug McCollough: Providers Can Better Manage the Risks of America’s Data Center Debate

Broadband providers serving data centers risk reputational damage and overlook regional growth opportunities when they fail to engage with the communities their fiber runs through.

Broadband BreakfastLindsay Miller

• Broadband Breakfast's August 2025 series on data centers in Ashburn, Virginia

Dateline Ashburn - Broadband Breakfast

A series by Broadband Breakfast about ‘Data Center Alley’ in Loudoun County, Virginia, in September 2025

Broadband BreakfastJennifer Michel

• Earth, Ether, Fire and Water: An Elemental Data Center Story, Broadband Breakfast CEO Drew Clark, March 2025

Earth, Ether, Fire and Water: An Elemental Data Center Story

A convergence of interest between the energy-hungry needs of major Internet players and the Trump administration’s ‘energy dominance’

Broadband BreakfastDrew Clark