The House Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Chains held a hearing to discuss the expansion of data centers in rural America. The session, led by Chairman Jake Ellzey (R-TX), was titled “Empowering Rural America Through Investment in Innovation” and focused on both the opportunities and challenges that come with the growing presence of data centers in less populated regions.
Chairman Ellzey emphasized the importance of rural communities in shaping America's economic future. He stated, “Today’s hearing underscored the enormous potential rural communities have to drive America’s economic future. By focusing on energy development and the growing demand for data centers, we are opening the door to new investment, high-quality jobs, and long-term growth in the communities that have too often been left behind. The conversations we had today will help shape practical, results-driven policies that ensure rural America is not just included in our future, but leading it.”
During the hearing, participants discussed workforce needs and community impacts associated with new data center developments. Chairman Ellzey asked about how veterans fit into employment opportunities at these facilities. Mr. Offel responded: “I appreciate the question, Mr. Chairman. You know, we talk about data centers because it’s measured in mission critical. Mission-critical means you can quantify downtime in dollars or in terms of life or death for every second of lost infrastructure. I would argue that everyone who’s put on the uniform and taken the oath has once entered a mission-critical environment that isn’t measured in downtime but in their own mortality. The state of Texas—and what Chris was saying, why it’s such a robust state—the sky for the cloud is Northern Virginia, but the home for AI will be Texas. It has 116 higher educational platforms, 15 military bases, and four of the most populous cities in the United States. Not to mention, it has more natural resources than any other state in the Union, including Alaska and Montana. So, we have the best access to the biggest workforce. There’s a massive number of veterans coming out of the military who have been exposed to the most advanced weapons, machines, and technology ever built. The military is best known for being one of the largest leadership incubators ever built. So, we are not only—this industry does not—it’s not lacking genius or intelligence. It does lack leadership, it lacks courage—and veterans are trained and conditioned and pressure tested in all three. So, I think that veterans have the highest likelihood. I have three kids who are in college right now, and I tell them that a college degree is about as useful as a taxi medallion in a few years because you can spend four years in the military and find yourself with a higher demand of opportunity that has the highest overall total earning potential versus something that you can find today going to college.”
Concerns from residents regarding energy use were also addressed during testimony from Mr. Crosby after questions from Rep. Finstad about whether large-scale data centers might increase local electricity prices or strain power grids: “Thank you for your question. We do not go to these environments and look for them to pay us for them. So, we build infrastructure. We’ve bought land and transferred it to the utility company for easements. We’ve paid for transmissions. We’ve paid for switching stations, substations, and the like. That’s the infrastructure that we’re utilizing... Almost every single time...that involves additional infrastructure...that other parts of the community can use that we pay for...” He added they are working with regulatory bodies so data centers could support grid stability during extreme weather events: “During Storm Yuri...if data centers had been allowed by law—and not threatened with criminal penalties to operate—12 people would not have died during Storm Yuri in Texas...We can be stabilizing...islanded bodies...we could actually reduce costs for consumers and stabilize the grid with it being our nickel.”
The hearing highlighted both concerns over resource usage as well as strategies by developers to contribute infrastructure improvements benefiting wider rural communities.
