Public interest in the power of the law that guarantees us access to government records and meetings ebbs and flows with each headline, but none of the storylines has had the sort of staying power needed to tip the balance in favor of an overall culture of transparency. I wonder, though, if we might be on the cusp of such a tipping point. As it is impacting every other news story of the day — from taxes, traffic, employment and noise, to water and electricity, property values and the fundamental character of communities — data centers are at the heart of it.

A Pittsylvania County group formed when a data center and power plant wanted to locate in the rural area of Chatham is pushing the board of supervisors to produce studies performed in 2024 on housing and industrial use sites. The request comes as the county is working on its comprehensive plan. Known as Pittsylvania 2047, it will be a guiding document to take the county through the next two decades when Southside Virginia is expected to undergo what many leaders term as “exponential growth” with large projects coming. … Katie Whitehead, of the Coalition for the Protection of Pittsylvania County, said the organization knows there will be disagreements on what the future holds for development, especially when the information is public. “How could there not be controversy if you openly and honestly tell us the possible location of future power plants or data centers or manufacturing sites?” she questioned.

Since taking office, NDAs have become a fixture of Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration. So much so that the governor hand-signed one himself. Records obtained by the Gulf States Newsroom show Landry personally executed a “Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement” on April 23, 2024, on behalf of the “Office of the Governor,” with Laidley LLC, the data center subsidiary of Meta Platforms, a private, California-based tech company worth trillions of dollars. While the company name has been redacted from the document, it was produced as part of a public records request from the Gulf States Newsroom and Type Investigations regarding discussions between the state and Meta, including Laidley LLC, the shell company Meta used during negotiations around Hyperion — the $50 billion data center campus in Richland Parish. … The document treats its own existence as a secret. The agreement states that “Confidential Information also includes the existence of this Agreement and the fact or nature of the discussions between the parties.” A publicity clause bars either side from making “any public announcement or other disclosures” about the agreement or the relationship without the other’s written approval — including statements to reporters, blogs, trade publications or “any other public audience.”