The Standard · seven commitments

Right is a promise you can check

Seven commitments, in writing. Six already stand somewhere in America, and the seventh has begun in New Jersey.

Companies adopt them. Officials require them. Neighbors ask for them. Each one has its sources on the receipts.

01 of 07

The front door

The town knows who is coming before it votes.

What it asks: No NDAs with local governments; the tenant is named before the vote.
Where it already stands: Microsoft has ended its non-disclosure agreements with local governments. In Salix, Iowa, a proposed moratorium failed the week the tenant was named.

02 of 07

A public, binding rate keeps the building’s costs on the building’s bill.

What it asks: A binding large-load tariff, filed publicly.
Where it already stands: Virginia’s GS-5 tariff sets 14-year terms and an 85% minimum payment. Ohio’s sets 85% over 12 years.

03 of 07

New lines and substations are paid for by the building that needs them.

What it asks: 100% contribution-in-aid for grid upgrades the project causes.
Where it already stands: One Ohio campus is paying $4.2 billion for its own transmission.

04 of 07

Quiet at night, the same water around and around, and the look of the building: written into the permit, and measured.

What it asks: Enforceable nighttime noise limits with tonal criteria, closed-loop water commitments, metered construction water, well-monitoring escrow, and design standards — in the permit, third-party verified, remediation-bonded.
Where it already stands: Chandler, Arizona and Prince William County, Virginia show what happens when the numbers are left out.

05 of 07

What the town receives is signed before the town decides.

What it asks: An enforceable community agreement negotiated before approval — local hiring with numbers and dates, funded first-responder training, an advisory board with authority, cash certainty up front.
Where it already stands: Brookings and the Federation of American Scientists have both published the practice.

06 of 07

If the plans change, the cost stays with the company.

What it asks: If the demand forecast fizzles, the company eats the cost — minimum take, exit fees, collateral, and utility backstops.
Where it already stands: Georgia Power backstops new generation through 2031, and the state’s commission can order a remedy.

07 of 07

Water, electricity, taxes and backup runtime, published every year.

What it asks: Water use, energy use, tax benefits, and generator runtime published annually.
Where it has begun: New Jersey made part of it law in August 2026: data centers there report their energy and water use to the state twice a year, and the state publishes it. The first reports are due by November 27, 2026.

Using it

A company adopts it. Publish the seven as your own commitments before you file, and sign them into the permit and the community agreement.
An official requires it. Write the seven into the conditions of approval. Most of the language already stands somewhere, and the receipts link to it.
A neighbor asks for it. Bring the list to the hearing and ask which of the seven are in writing. A promise that is not in the permit is not a promise yet.

If one of the seven stands in your town, or has been refused there, tell us where: hello@builditrightamerica.org. We add what we can source.