How the Rural Power Coalition is Addressing Data Centers in Rural Communities
I am Kyle Crider, Interim Coordinator for the Rural Power Coalition (RPC) and head of RPC’s Data Centers working committee.
The data center boom is arriving faster than rural infrastructure can handle. Hyperscale data centers are being proposed and built at unprecedented speed, often in 12–18 months, while rural co‑ops need multi‑year planning and financing cycles to upgrade substations, feeders, and transmission.
Confounding this is the fact that rural co-ops carry more infrastructure with fewer people to pay for it. Co‑ops maintain 42% of U.S. distribution lines but serve only 12% of the population. This is a fundamental imbalance that already strains household budgets.
When a data center arrives, it can require tens of millions of dollars in new infrastructure, and unless safeguards are in place, those costs can be shifted onto everyday member‑owners. To make matters worse, data centers can drive up wholesale power costs for everyone, even if they are not in your community or served by your utility.
But RPC is not just warning of risks; we’re proposing real-world solutions.
Every month, in addition to our Data Centers working committee meeting, we host a free online public forum featuring guest experts discussing how to apply these solutions. You can view recordings of our past solutions series here, and sign up to receive invitations to future sessions.
The Rural Power Coalition’s position on data centers is that growth must serve people, not just corporations. Data centers are not inherently bad, but they must be planned responsibly, and rural communities should have a say in how digital infrastructure shapes their future. This should include a commitment to benefit local communities by building local clean energy systems to lower utility bills. A fair and equitable energy transition requires protecting rural ratepayers, strengthening cooperative infrastructure, and ensuring tech growth does not undermine community resilience. You can read our full position statement here.
Won’t you join us in this mission?
PS I’m not just a policy wonk. This is personal. I am fighting a proposed hyperscale data center just down the road from me in Bessemer (rural Jefferson County), Alabama.