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The blueprint covers facilities OpenAI will own and operate. It follows widespread local votes against development, but the company says work began in August.
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OpenAI’s November 5 blueprint sets out how it says it will handle future data centers it owns and operates: cover their full power costs, publish construction plans, seek input from nearby residents, and avoid nondisclosure agreements with public officials. The company also urged policymakers to make similar safeguards law, but the commitments are not legal requirements. The announcement followed local votes that overwhelmingly favored limiting data-center development, raising the stakes for OpenAI’s effort to build capacity for customers and new models.
CNBC reported that voters backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures in all but one of 41 local ballot measures across 10 states.
The measures varied: some proposed bans or pauses, while others concerned zoning, project approvals, or future voter consent.
Chris Lehane said the blueprint had been in development since August, ahead of the new Congress convening in January.
Communities hosting future OpenAI-owned and -operated data centers are being promised full payment of power costs, public construction plans and a chance to weigh in. OpenAI published those commitments on November 5, 2026, CNBC reported, two days after voters overwhelmingly favored restrictions on data-center development in local ballot measures.
OpenAI also encouraged policymakers to put similar requirements into law. The announcement is a company commitment and a legislative proposal—not the enactment of those requirements.
The stated scope is specific: data centers that OpenAI will own and operate. Its promise to pay the full cost of powering those facilities reaffirms a position the company has taken previously. OpenAI has repeatedly pledged this year to protect electricity customers and invest in local communities.
Opposition mounted over the summer as residents worried that data centers could increase utility bills, worsen environmental harms and contribute to job losses. CNBC described opposition as spanning both sides of the political aisle, rather than belonging to one party.
Across 41 local ballot measures in 10 states, voters backed restrictions or rejected measures favoring development in all but one case. That tally came from a Ballotpedia analysis and additional results gathered by CNBC on November 4.
The votes did not all ask the same question. Ballotpedia’s September 23 inventory described measures ranging from outright prohibitions and temporary pauses to zoning decisions, project approvals and requirements for future voter consent. Some were advisory votes, while others would change laws, charters or development agreements.
That earlier inventory counted 38 measures across eight states, with Ohio accounting for 20. Of those measures, 31 qualified through citizen petitions, compared with seven referred by local governing bodies. Those September figures describe the pre-election landscape, not the final results.
Although publication followed the election, Lehane said the blueprint had been in development since August. He told reporters he had met with dozens of lawmakers and candidates during that period. He described the conversations as preparation for the new Congress convening in January.
OpenAI depends on data centers to serve customers and develop new models, and is seeking rapid construction to meet demand.
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