WESLACO, Texas - The Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalition discussed AI data centers and public benefit agreements at a recent workshop in Weslaco.
The event took place at the offices of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council (LRGVDC). The coalition is funded in part by Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas.
Much of the discussion centered on what powers communities have to secure the maximum benefit from a data center developer.
Jordana Barton-Garcia, director of RGVBC, said communities have their greatest leverage before a data center developer has obtained a permit.
Barton-Garcia said there is an AI data center boom currently underway in Texas. Therefore, this moment really matters.
“The top four, Microsoft and Open AI, Google, Amazon, Meta, and other developers are pouring billions into Texas data centers, footprints as large as 70 football fields,” Barton-Garcia said.
She said developers are in an “arms race” and are scouting the Rio Grande Valley and border region
“The AI data center race is just one of the first challenges in the age of AI for communities to analyze, organize, and take action on to create guardrails, policy, and law,” Barton-Garcia said.
“Leverage is time constrained. A community’s negotiating power is at its highest before a developer has a term sheet and permits. Every meeting in preparation is leverage.”
Other than public benefit agreements, other tools in a community’s toolkit are moratoriums, conditional use permits, and zoning bans, she explained.
Barton-Garcia then explained what a public benefit agreement is.
“A PBA opens the door to the ‘Art of the Possible' between willing participants. It is a negotiated contract between a local government, a local community coalition and a corporation to enable win-win solutions to invest in local resources, grow local capabilities and meet corporate needs,” she said.
“PBAs are legally binding contracts that include a list of commitments that a company agrees to fulfill in exchange for locating in that community.”
Barton-Garcia gave a number of examples of what could be included in a public benefit agreement.
* A requirement that at least 60 percent or more of construction workers within the project are local workers. First priority would be placement of residents receiving the fiber optic technician credential from the RGV Broadband Coalition-Pharr Connect U regional workforce program or another fiber technician industry credential from a RGV local community college.
* Residents receiving their electrician credential from an RGV college and or workforce development agency.
* A local construction firm to manage the project.
* A $5 million initial contribution plus 2% profit sharing annual contribution to a joint LRGVDC and community coalition-led fund that may be established with a local philanthropy that would be used to fund specific community needs in the six categories established by the community coalition.
Barton-Garcia said certain principles need to be established upfront.
“Think regionally - i.e. regional programs or scaling existing programs into inter-regional programs - and think long-term.
As for adaptability, she said PBAs can include county or city specific programs that support a specific to county or city. “However, don’t lose the regional programs vision that serve all four counties (of the RGV).”
Barton-Garcia and Ricardo Saenz, the RGVBC’s program manager, gave members some homework:
“Please review the six categories the community agreed to include in the regional PBA from the previous workshop and work with some of your constituents/staff to create specific long-term commitments to include under each.”
The previous workshop took place in Pharr in February.
There are six categories and recommendations agreed to at the previous workshop:
Environment and Resources
* Require innovative water and energy conservation technologies to reduce impact and add value.
* Support for utility projects, such as desalination facilities. * Investment in smart water systems, by expanding utility fiber and wireless networks for operations, monitoring, and disaster response.
* Data Centers to balance their own electric load, (their own microgrid).
* Require innovative technologies that lower emissions and require less energy.
* Quarterly disclosures.
* Wildlife impact study.
* Binational consultation.
* “Buy local” incentives.
Workforce and Jobs
Healthcare and Telehealth
* Telehealth funding, including connectivity programs, digital skills training, and devices for low- and moderate-income patients to access telehealth.
* Support Federally Qualified Health Centers and community clinics with sustaining telehealth platforms that integrate with their electronic medical records.
* Support community health worker programs in Federally Qualified Health Centers and community clinics to serve as digital navigators.
* Mobile home clinics.
Closing the Digital Divide
* Subscriptions for high-speed internet for low- and moderate-income households
* Provide public middle-mile fiber to lower ISP costs, expand affordable internet access in low- and middle-income communities and generate local lease revenue.
* Digital navigator certification/digital skills programs/device distribution, i.e., broadband adoption programs to close the digital divide.
* Support the IDRA-ARISE Digital Ambassador program to expand regionally.
Governance and accountability.
* No NDA clause.
* City hosted dashboard for transparency.
* Community benefit fund.
Community Sovereignty
* Decommissioning required
* Exit transition fee
* Profit sharing
