30 October, 2026

Data centres are having a bit of a NIMBY moment. In global news, they’ve become a huge issue in the US mid-terms, while across the UK, planned developments are also facing opposition , including in Brick Lane in London. The concerns range from environmental impact to health concerns to a more fundamental question: why should communities give up space, electricity and other resources for infrastructure that appears to give relatively little back? 

These are fair questions. We’ve talked before about AI’s not-so-hidden environmental footprint, from the energy needed to power data centres to the water required to cool them. But we’re not convinced the answer is simply to say no. 

If we want the benefits of AI, opting out of the infrastructure that enables it feels uncomfortable too. There’s also a bigger strategic question here: hosting more of that infrastructure in the UK could give the country greater influence over how the technology develops and where some of its economic benefits land. 

So perhaps the more interesting question isn’t should we build data centres, but what should we expect from them in return? 

That’s where governance comes in. The new Data Centre Covenant shows an intention to get to these environmental and community benefits. Its mandates include ensuring that data centres take responsibility for the increase in capacity of the electricity grid and contributing to the local economy through local development, as well as excitingly suggesting that planners should consider using waste heat usefully within a community. For instance, using district heat networks to distribute heat around homes as Amsterdam’s MeerEnergie initiative has done using a partnership with an Equinix data centre. 

If this infrastructure is going to become an increasingly important part of our economy, let’s make sure the communities hosting it benefit too. 

By Anna Heis