Data Center Moratoriums Should Lead to Better Evidence, Not Just More Waiting

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) As Barnes County considers the future of its data-center moratorium, Persistence Analytics Group LLC (PAG), an independent infrastructure decision-assurance firm, says communities should focus on the evidence required before major development commitments become the basis for public decisions. The county s approach reflects a challenge emerging across the United States: developers may explore property acquisitions and confidential land arrangements long before local governments have sufficient information to evaluate the infrastructure and financial consequences of a potential project. Residents are asking a reasonable question: How can a community evaluate something if it doesn t know what s coming? said Neil P. Osnato, founder of Persistence Analytics Group and a former New York Stock Exchange floor trader. The answer isn t to assume every proposed data center is harmful, or that every developer s projection will materialize. It s to establish w