Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen announced 17 members to the state's new Data Center Task Force on Tuesday.
The new task force will help evaluate the impact of data centers on Nebraska's water resources, power grids and local infrastructure. The 17 people are composed of county commissioners, and executives with public power districts and energy firms.
The view on and environment for data centers is rapidly evolving. Earlier this year, Pillen helped push legislation that would make it easier for data center development in Nebraska, according to Nebraska Public Media.
Since that time, Nebraska people in more than a dozen counties have asked officials to hold off on allowing data centers, citing environmental concerns.
Pillen changed his stance in July and issued an executive order that suspended tax incentives for data center projects in Nebraska, and pointed to the creation of the task force that has now been named.
What to do about data centers is appearing to grow as an issue on the minds of Americans as the November general election approaches, and candidates are weighing in too.
Several Iowa counties, including Woodbury, Plymouth and Sioux, have placed moratoriums of 12 months or so while they work through issues.
