Our partners in Talk Business & Politics recently reported that a new trade association has been formed in Arkansas that plans to advance data center and artificial intelligence infrastructure policy in the state. Roby Brock from Talk Business recently spoke with Aaron Pilkington, a Republican state representative from Knoxville and the new trade association's executive director, about the need for this in Arkansas. Pilkington says Arkansas is really missing out on economic booms by not being more proactive in this industry.
Pilkington: But then seeing the backlash and seeing the concern that citizens had. And of course, now with the emergence of AI and how it changes our industry, and the concerns about how it will affect workforce and our privacy and all sorts of things, I thought it was important to come together and try to bring all these different factors, the industry, the utilities, everyone together to basically kind of help guide the policy structure that goes forward. Because AI is not going away, data centers are not going away, but how do we do it to make sure that we capitalize as a state on these new developments and at the same time protect our citizens as well? And so, kind of walking that tightrope, I think, is sometimes what legislators try to do. And I think for me, as someone who's in the thick of it, it was important to be someone to bring it together, and of course make it organic, make it something out of Arkansas, not something from Silicon Valley or D.C. coming down and trying to tell us how to do it. But how can Arkansas make the best policy for Arkansas?
Brock: You mentioned some of the concerns that are out there. We see a lot of public meetings, not only at the legislature, but in local communities, about the concerns on this. You mentioned privacy and workforce, but land use, energy demands, environmental concerns and things like that. I'm assuming all of that will be things that you want this trade association to —
Pilkington: Yeah, that's one of the things we want to address with this. There's a lot of concerns out there. Some of them are genuine concerns about land use and about electricity use. There's others that not so much. One you hear about a lot is water usage. But actually, when you compare the amount of water that these new centers use, especially closed-loop cooling, it's minuscule compared to some of the older ones. And then when you compare it to other industries, it becomes painfully obvious that water is not an issue the way a lot of people are making it out to be. So that's kind of one of the things we want to do with this is, let's address the real concerns, which obviously the massive use of electricity that these things use, how do we make sure that we protect ratepayers, how do we make sure that we keep energy costs low.
Brock: Dispel those myths as well. So you're wanting to put some advisory boards together. This was in a press release that was announcing this trade association. Kind of what are you looking for? Will that include people that are pro-data center, pro-AI? Will it also include some people that have concerns, that you want to do that?
Pilkington: Yes. We want people from kind of all parts of, I think anyone who just says no to everything, it's probably not a good fit for them. But you know, we've got an AI policy, and so obviously AI companies that are here operating in Arkansas, we want them to be involved. But also people who work in the industry who are concerned about security, safety, protecting minors from AI, all those things, we want them to be a part of the discussion as well so that we can create really robust policy. Same with the Construction Advisory Committee. And of course, same with the community engagement. We want people who are skeptical to also be a part of it, because that's the only way we're really going to address concerns, if we hear genuine feedback of what are the real concerns and not just maybe trumped up talking points.
Brock: How does somebody that wants to be on one of these advisory boards, how do they connect with you?
Pilkington: So we have a website, arkansasconnectedcommunitiesassociation.org. I would go there, you can click, there's a link that will allow you to submit an email to us letting us know that you'd be interested. I've already received quite a few calls and emails from people looking to join the association.
So that's a way for us to start gathering. Of course, we've been proactive before, even before the launch of this, going to certain different organizations and telling them that this is something we're trying to create, something that would help them. I've had meetings with Association of Counties, we've talked a little bit to the Municipal League, we've talked to all, obviously all the big tech end users about this as well, about getting their involvement. And how do we basically come in and, like I said, dispel the rumors and address the concerns, because these things aren't going away, but we need to make sure that it's a good deal for Arkansas. And so the hope is that we can produce that, and of course not shoot ourselves in the foot and have another issue where, like when FedEx went to Memphis and not Little Rock, we don't want another situation where we miss an economic opportunity or an economic boom because we weren't prepared for it.
That was Aaron Pilkington, a state representative and executive director of the Arkansas Connected Communities Association, speaking with Roby Brock from Talk Business & Politics. You can find more details on that story and more at talkbusiness.net.
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