Amazon Pledges Over $1 Billion for Data Center Communities as Data Center Construction Spending Jumps 73%

Amazon said on October 2 that it will put more than $1 billion over the next five years into communities where it operates data centers, according to the Associated Press. The money is earmarked for education, job training, water and energy preservation projects and other local priorities. Amazon also said it is no longer using nondisclosure agreements with the government agencies it works with on its projects, and it is hosting community open houses.

The commitment is a response to rising local resistance. The AP cited polling showing about 60% of Americans support limiting new data center construction, with a majority worried about electricity prices or water supply. The pledge funds community programs; it is not a promise to cover residents' power bills or local infrastructure costs.

The backdrop is a construction boom. Census Bureau figures analyzed by Associated Builders and Contractors show data center construction spending rose 73% year over year in August and 7.5% from July, and has grown at a 149% annualized pace since March. ABC chief economist Anirban Basu said "it's becoming difficult to contextualize the size and speed of this boom." Total US construction ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.2 trillion, according to Construction Dive.

In a smaller related development, NetApp and Oracle announced on September 29 a fully managed storage service built on NetApp ONTAP and native to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, aimed at AI and enterprise workloads. The companies expect general availability within the next 12 months.

What to watch: which communities receive the first Amazon grants and whether the end of NDAs eases local permitting fights, the September Census construction release for confirmation that data center spending is still accelerating, and a firmer launch date for the NetApp service on Oracle's cloud.