What can Arizona learn from the data center capital of the world? @JohnHookfox10 recently spoke with @judgeglock on Newsmaker about Loudoun County, Virginia, home to one of the world's largest concentrations of data centers. A few numbers stood out: - Data centers generate nearly half of Loudoun County's property-tax revenue. - For every $1 the county spends providing services to data centers, it collects about $26 in tax revenue. - Loudoun's real-property tax rate has fallen every year for the past decade, a reduction of nearly 30%. That revenue has helped Loudoun invest in schools, roads, and parks while keeping tax rates relatively low for residents. Once completed, data centers typically require relatively few workers on site, which means less daily traffic and less demand on services like schools and police. The episode also addressed concerns about water, siting, and noise. Air-cooled and closed-loop designs can significantly reduce water use, while thoughtful zoning, adequate setbacks, and noise mitigation can protect nearby neighborhoods. These are reasons to plan data center development well, not reject the industry altogether. Loudoun County has around 200 data centers within roughly 520 square miles. Arizona has roughly 160 across more than 113,000 square miles. Arizona has plenty of room to place them responsibly and accommodate more growth. With smart public policy and planning, we can use the revenue generated by data centers to lower taxes and improve public services without disrupting nearby neighborhoods.