Technology companies negotiating data center projects with local governments across the United States are routinely requiring elected officials to sign nondisclosure agreements, keeping terms of major development deals hidden from the public. Records requests filed by the Gulf States Newsroom and Type Investigations uncovered at least 54 NDAs signed by Louisiana officials since Gov. Jeff Landry took office in early 2024, including agreements covering data center projects in Rapides Parish, where Dallas-based Applied Digital Corp. is breaking ground on a 300-acre facility near the town of Boyce.

Residents near affected sites say the secrecy has fueled distrust of local leaders and left basic questions unanswered. Foster Hensel, a beekeeper in central Louisiana who farms near the Boyce construction site, said he worries about rising utility bills and environmental changes, and questioned why negotiations were conducted behind closed doors. University of Virginia researcher Eric Bonds, who surveyed 31 data center projects in Virginia, found NDAs were used in at least 25 of them, calling the practice 'standard.' David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida, said companies use information control to gain a negotiating advantage as they move from jurisdiction to jurisdiction seeking the most favorable terms.

Opposition to rapid data center expansion has emerged as one of the few genuinely bipartisan issues in contemporary American politics, drawing together conservative farmers, environmental groups and rural residents across Republican-leaning Nebraska, Texas and Wyoming, swing-state Pennsylvania and Democratic-leaning New Mexico. In Cass County, Nebraska, officials approved a 12-month moratorium on data center development after residents packed a firehouse meeting in the village of Murdock to voice concerns about farmland loss, water depletion and higher electricity costs. Energy company Tenaska has been exploring options on more than 1,300 acres along Highway 75 in the county for a project that could include a data center and a natural gas power plant.

Legislative pushback against NDA use is accelerating at the state level. Bills to ban the agreements on data center projects have been introduced in Michigan, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Ohio, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro last week prohibited their use on data center projects overseen by agencies under his authority. Supporters of data center expansion, including President Donald Trump and some labor union leaders, argue the projects deliver jobs and economic investment while advancing U.S. technological competition with China, but critics say the pace and secrecy of development are outrunning communities' ability to respond.