WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: Ford Announces Plan to Pause New Tax Abatements for Data Centers

Yesterday, Attorney General Aaron Ford unveiled his plan to make data centers pay up. As outlined in his plan, Ford will pause data center tax breaks while his administration  audits whether they’ve delivered on their commitments. Ford’s plan will also protect Nevadans’ pocketbooks by requiring data centers to pay for their own energy and create union jobs. Ford will increase transparency by releasing key information on data centers’ jobs, tax revenue, and economic activity. Ford is also committed to protecting Nevada’s environment by ensuring data centers use clean energy and adopt sustainable technologies to protect the state’s water supply.

Joe Lombardo, in contrast, has been data centers’ biggest cheerleader – alongside his “commanding officer” Donald Trump. Lombardo has allowed data centers to grow unchecked while giving them more than $200 million in tax breaks, money that could instead benefit everyday Nevadans. Moreover, data centers are among Lombardo’s biggest campaign donors. As Governor, Ford will end Joe Lombardo’s gravy train for data centers and fight to ensure that if data centers operate in Nevada, working people are in the driver’s seat – not corporations and billionaires.

ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

@MediasTouch: Data centers are shaping up to be one of the biggest issues of 2026 and beyond

@AlexThomp: Latest dem leaning into data center opposition (also the gubernatorial nominee in a key 2028 primary state)

@MattZeitlin: dem challenger in nevada gubernatorial race is making data centers an issue, but notably isn't calling for a moratorium (he's going after tax abatements) and has the IBEW as a validator

@NSEAOnline: Servers don’t need subsidies. Nevada's economic development strategy cannot continue to give money to wealthy corporations first and ask questions later. AG Aaron Ford is right to draw the line on these abatements, and demand that data centers pay their fair share.

@PLANActionNV: Meanwhile, #DataCenterJoe is busting it wide open for the highest campaign contributor #nvgov

IN THE NEWS:

KOLO: Ford announces intention to pause tax breaks for data centers if elected governor

[8/19/26]

• “When I’m Governor, Joe Lombardo’s gravy train for data centers is coming to an end. I’m going to implement some of the strictest rules in America: data centers will need to bring their own water or coolant, pay for their own electricity so ratepayers’ bills don’t go up, and actually deliver the sustainable high-paying jobs and tax revenue they’ve promised.” said Attorney General Aaron Ford. “Joe Lombardo says he’s ‘wholeheartedly in support of data centers.’ I, on the other hand, will be a Governor who is wholeheartedly supportive of Nevadans – and that means making data centers pay up.”

  
  

Nevada Independent: Nevada governor candidate Aaron Ford pledges to pause new data center tax breaks

[Eric Neugeboren, 8/19/26]

• [Ford’s] new proposal creates a significant divergence, which Ford has said is evidence of his willingness, and Lombardo's unwillingness, to stand up to large corporations. A PAC tied to Lombardo's campaign received $1 million this year from the wife of the founder of Switch, a data center company with a significant footprint in Nevada.

• "I'll use everything within my power to stop awarding tax breaks for data centers until they prove that they are holding their end of the bargain," Ford said in an interview.

• Nevada has provided tax breaks to 14 data centers totaling an estimated $461 million, alongside promises of 313 permanent jobs since 2015.

• The Nevada Independent reported earlier this year that little information is available to the public about whether the [data center] companies' economic outputs were worth the incentives. The public also has limited access to full company audits, which some experts said was an apparent violation of state law.

Nevada Current: Ford says he’ll pause data center tax abatements if elected
[Dana Gentry, 8/19/26]

• Ford’s Democratic primary opponent Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill, who called for ending data center subsidies during the campaign, supports her former opponent’s plan. 

• “Gov. Lombardo is handing over our state’s precious water and energy resources to his biggest donors,” Hill said in a news release from Ford’s campaign. “Nevadans must come together to vote for Ford and other Democrats who will guarantee transparency and center local community needs.”

• The state extended $97 million in tax breaks to data centers in the 2021-22 biennium, according to the Department of Taxation’s Tax Expenditure Report. That number more than doubled for fiscal years 2023-24, reaching almost $240 million.

• Lombardo’s Better Nevada PAC has also hauled in large data center-related donations, including $500,000 each from data center pioneer Ben Horowitz and his wife, Felicia, in May, and $1 million the same month from Jessica Roy, wife of Switch founder Rob Roy.

The Nevadan: Aaron Ford pledges to pause data center tax breaks if elected governor
[Lizzie Ramirez, 8/19/26]

• Lombardo’s GOED has not tracked if data centers lived up to these promises. 

• Lombardo has openly voiced his support for data center development in the Silver State despite widespread criticism. He submitted an opinion piece to the Reno Gazette Journal in June titled “Nevada is proving data centers can be done right,” in which he said Nevada wasn’t facing any issues as it relates to water or electric bills due to data centers.

• [Ford] also promised to force data centers to pay for the energy they use, rather than allowing the cost to shift to consumers. It’s projected that data centers could double the amount of power usage in Nevada — and this cost could shift to consumers, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

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