They get a tax break and keep the massive profits, expanding their wealth into millions and billions. We’re told to be grateful for the scraps: some local revenue, a few dozen permanent jobs, and a power grid the rest of us pay to expand.
The 2024 JLARC report Virginia commissioned found the industry’s 74,000 jobs come mostly from construction, not operations. A finished data center employs fewer than 50 people.
The break buys the building, not the workforce.