Inc.’s QTS and some of the biggest data center developers pledged to provide disclosures on their projects’ power demands, water use and ownership structures to local communities.

Vantage Data Centers, Compass Datacenters and Digital Realty also made the commitments as founding members of industry group Infrastructure for America. Separately, the four firms told Bloomberg they don’t require state and local governments to sign non-disclosure agreements, which have sparked backlash from locals demanding more clarity.

Even though the pledges are nonbinding, executives involved in the effort said they hope the initiative will set standards and encourage the industry to stamp out worst practices.

The group aims to turn public opinion as the industry faces the most scrutiny it ever has from lawmakers and communities. Organized opposition to data centers blocked or delayed at least 45 such projects across the US in the second quarter, according to Data Center Watch.

“The questions around data centers are valid,” Dana Adams, Vantage’s president of North America, said in an interview about the initiative. “We as an industry need to address them, and in many cases have been addressing them for many years.”Data centers have become a political flashpoint in an election year, with members of Congress calling to ban non-disclosure deals. Democratic US Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen and Richard Blumenthal queried tech firms on how they use NDAs and tax breaks, a preview of how lawmakers in that party will police the industry more tightly if they gain control of Congress.

As part of the Infrastructure for America commitments, the four developers plan to rule out a cooling method that can cause substantial water loss. Using the so-called evaporative cooling method to remove heat from facilities poses a particular problem in arid areas, and more developers have been favoring “closed loop” cooling systems that recirculate water.

The developers also pledged to pay for grid upgrades powering the data centers they run and to support rate structures that would shield data center costs from consumers. The developers also said they would participate, when feasible, in programs designed by regulators and utilities to get large customers to curtail electricity use during grid emergencies and stress.

The Trump administration has pressured data center companies to pay for their own energy and infrastructure, as it juggles the competing priorities of advancing AI with voters’ unrest about rising electricity bills.

Some voters have said they’d respond more favorably to political candidates supporting data centers if they paid the full costs of electricity, minimized water use and noise and created local jobs with competitive salaries, according to a survey of about 800 US voters commissioned by Infrastructure for America.

In the face of more regulatory scrutiny and growing public opposition, the organization is planning ads to make the case that data centers fuel jobs and growth.

Executives involved concede that the data center industry is scrutinized as closely as oil-and-gas frackers were in the 2010s, and needs to play offense, according to people familiar with their thinking.

FTI Consulting, which has worked with ExxonMobil and Chevron Corp., is advising Infrastructure for America. FTI senior managing director Steve Everley, who previously advised the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s public relations program, Energy in Depth, co-leads the effort with Erin McPike, who runs the Americas telecom, media and technology practice at FTI.

Infrastructure for America’s founding members have backing from some of the biggest players bankrolling the AI infrastructure build-out.

Private equity firm Silver Lake invests in Vantage, while Brookfield Asset Management backs Compass. QTS, which Blackstone bought in 2021, is at the heart of the alternative asset manager’s $200 billion data center empire. Digital Realty, which is publicly traded, has a market capitalization of more than $66 billion.