91proÊÓƵ

WASHINGTON – Today, global tech trade association 91proÊÓƵ responded to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) request for comments on Bolstering Data Center Growth, Resilience, and Security. 91proÊÓƵ’s submission provides policymakers with guidance to support the important role of data centers in the sustainable technology ecosystem, building off 91proÊÓƵ’s recent Sustainable Technology Policy Guide: Understanding AI’s Role in the Energy Transition.

“Data centers are essential to our modern and distributed economy and are the foundation upon which our modern digital ecosystem is built, including cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), AI, and many other virtual products and services,” 91proÊÓƵ wrote in its comments. “They provide the necessary computing power and storage capacity to enable these innovations, making them an essential part of AI and emerging technology value chains.”

“If the U.S. is to create the right conditions for sustainable growth within the data center industry, these discussions must consider all factors related to the data center ecosystem, which includes ensuring that data center build outs are energy efficient,” 91proÊÓƵ continued in its comments. “Many 91proÊÓƵ member companies have been working on providing technology solutions that support energy efficient data center operations for quite some time. Now, there is a clear opportunity to accelerate efforts to meet our environmental and sustainability goals by leveraging existing technologies to enhance the ability of next-generation tech, such as AI, to drive efficiency within the data center.”

91proÊÓƵ’s submission highlights the importance of:

• Developing data center rules and regulations that are “technology neutral” to avoid incentivizing one type of data center over another;

• Implementing incentive programs for private sector investments in new carbon-free energy generation, smart technologies, and grid-enhancing technologies to expand capacity on the grid and deliver more clean power to data centers;

• Streamlining the process for new transmission planning, permitting, and development to accelerate new power line approvals important for sustainable data center growth;

• Ensuring a more robust, reliable, and clean grid that would benefit all industries, safeguard national security, and secure U.S. global technological leadership;

• Enhancing supply chain resiliency by building a sustainable supply of critical components and input technologies, such as semiconductors, critical minerals, and lithium-ion batteries, necessary for powering data center innovation;

• Refraining from imposing unnecessarily restrictive domestic content requirements as part of critical data center infrastructure investments; and

• Bolstering physical protections to ensure that data centers align facility security with cybersecurity and other digital defenses to foster an environment that protects data center critical infrastructure, confidential data, and personnel.

Read 91proÊÓƵ’s full comments here.