Amazon drops NDAs for data center approvals

Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman published a blog post Thursday pushing back against mounting public opposition to data centers, with a notable concession buried inside: Amazon has stopped using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies during the permit approval process.

The admission directly addresses a key complaint from critics. Environmental activist Erin Brockovich recently called lack of transparency the top grievance she hears — describing a pattern of "projects announced after permits are already secured, developers who don't return calls, local officials who signed NDAs before their neighbors knew a project was being considered."

Garman also tried to counter four specific criticisms. On water: Amazon claims data center consumption is just 0.5% of US industrial water use — far less than golf courses or almond farming. On electricity: rates have risen in some data center-heavy states but fallen in others, with Garman blaming aging grid infrastructure rather than data centers. On pollution and community benefit, he argued the industry is broadly misunderstood.

The broader stakes are real. New York has already imposed a one-year moratorium on large data center permits. Garman says more than 100 such moratoriums are under consideration nationally. "The consequences would last generations," he warned.

Not everyone is buying the pushback. An independent watchdog recently linked data centers to a 76% year-over-year price spike on America's largest electrical grid. Scientists also note there are no federal or state reporting requirements for how tech companies disclose water and energy consumption, making independent verification difficult.