Early Community Engagement May Avoid Data Center Delays, Industry Panel Says

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2026 – Data center developers must prioritize early communication with local communities and policymakers to avoid project delays and cancellations, said panelists speaking Monday at Data Center World.

Governance challenges increasingly shape where and how projects move forward, said Brandie Williams , corporate senior manager of business development at Data Center Mission Critical, and lack of coordination among stakeholders is a major obstacle.

“Over 70% of projects between 2020 and 2019 never came to fruition [due to] a failure to communicate,” she said, emphasizing the need for developers to engage not only engineers but also landowners, utilities, and local residents early in the process.

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