Infrastructure
Virginia doesn’t have statewide data center regulations. Localities are making their own rules.
Without statewide rules in place, local governments have been scrambling to put regulations on the growing data center industry.
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New Tools Help State and Local Governments Battle Ransomware, Other Big Disasters
When governments find themselves being ransomed, their choices are typically to pay, which will undercut their ability to deliver key services to their communities due to budget restrictions, or not pay, resulting in the immediate inability to serve their communities and the loss of key data that will inevitably plague them for years afterwards.
T-Mobile is using 5G, drones and AI to help first responders
The provider’s T-Priority 5G network slicing solution aims to give first responders enhanced connectivity services in disaster zones.
State loses $5.6M in federal funding to expand digital access, help with unemployment insurance
The Trump administration recently terminated more than $5 million promised to South Dakota for expanded access to digital technology.
Minnesota lawmakers extend tax breaks for Big Tech data centers
The once boutique tax subsidy has exploded in cost in recent years, as tech companies chased the benefit to meet ever increasing demand for computing power.
Data centers are building their own gas power plants in Texas
Not long ago, developers of the massive server farms talked about powering them with wind and solar energy. Now they’re bypassing the grid and building their own gas-fired power plants on site.
Alaska city turns to cloud to enhance emergency dispatch services
After losing power from a windstorm and a hurricane in recent years, the Fairbanks Emergency Communications Center is tapping into cloud technology to ensure dispatch services won’t be disrupted during future events.
US should rethink current views of Russia’s cyber might, new report says
A think tank paper argues that Moscow’s network of hackers is more fragmented than U.S. officials once believed — a dynamic that may have led to exaggerated expectations of Russia’s cyber capabilities during its 2022 Ukraine invasion.
Report highlights community pushback stalling $64 billion in data center development nationwide
In Virginia, the globe’s largest concentration of data centers, and nationally, local opposition has coalesced into a powerful, bipartisan force.
A lagging broadband program faces more delays as Trump plans changes
States will have an additional 90 days to submit their final plans for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program.
As demand for AI rises, so do power thirsty data centers
As data centers are developed in new communities across the country, residents and their state legislators see a mix of financial benefits with energy and environmental challenges.
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Lawmakers fear AI data centers will drive up residents’ power bills
Roughly a dozen proposals in state legislatures nationwide seek to ensure that data centers don’t result in increased rates for other electric customers.
After RIBridges breach, R.I. state agencies share high tech wish lists at budget hearing
Nearly four months after a cyberattack shut down a public benefits system in Rhode Island, it is fully operational again. State officials now face new challenges, including upgrading aging tech and navigating uncertain federal funding.
Internet connectivity funding for Indiana schools is in jeopardy. Here’s why.
A pending Supreme Court ruling and a potential cut to a state grant could hurt schools’ efforts to improve internet connectivity, especially in rural areas.
Legislation creating statewide emergency communication system advances in Texas House
The legislation was written after the state’s largest wildfire scorched more than 1 million acres in the Panhandle last year.
Commerce Secretary’s proposal to prioritize satellite over fiber internet would ‘strand’ rural communities, experts say
Howard Lutnick’s proposal to change BEAD structure will line the pockets of billionaires and leave rural communities behind.
Already lagging broadband program faces more uncertainty under Trump
Three years after the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program began, it’s still in the planning phase.
State and local lawmakers take a renewed look at speed enforcement cameras
In some states, policymakers are concerned that speed cameras are more of a cash grab than a safety protocol.
Texas wants to be a nuclear power
The state is aggressively pushing to deploy the next generation of atomic energy that would power big industrial operations.
Rural New England needs EV chargers to keep tourism revenue flowing. The Trump administration is making it harder to build them.
Compared to surrounding states, New Hampshire’s rural communities lag in charging stations, threatening the tourism sector. Suspending federal funds could make it difficult to accelerate construction.
As Texas’ energy demand soars, a pilot program looks to bolster grid with “virtual power plants” fueled by people’s homes
Some Texans who install residential batteries, solar panels and smart thermostats can now send power back to the grid and get a credit on their bill.
