To build or not to build

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
For decades, companies built their procurement and supply chains around cost and efficiency.
Today, that's no longer enough. Wars, trade conflicts, and the regionalization of trade have changed the rules. Companies still need to control costs, but they also need to reduce risk and respond faster to disruptions and shocks. GEP helps the world's leading enterprises do exactly that. Through its AI-native quantum intelligence platform and services, GEP helps companies gain visibility, predict and manage risk, and make smarter capital investments across their global value chain. More than 7,000 employees across 30 offices support over 1,000 organizations worldwide. GEP combines agentic AI with three decades of procurement and supply chain data and expertise. Learn more at gep.com.
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**Kimberly Adams** (1:28)
Two states, two different strategies when it comes to big data centers.
From Marketplace in New York, I'm Kimberly Adams. The Empire State just became the first state to enact a moratorium on new large-scale data centers. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the one-year pause yesterday and said she wants to repeal sales tax exemptions for data centers in the state as well. Meanwhile, Louisiana is going in the opposite direction, offering big tax breaks to attract AI companies. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry just announced a massive expansion of a data center supercluster that Metta is building there. Marketplace's Samantha Fields looks at the economic arguments for and against large-scale data centers.

**Samantha Fields** (2:11)
More than 70% of Americans oppose the idea of a data center being built in their community, according to Gallup. New York Governor Kathy Hochul says one of her big concerns is how much energy they use.

**Kathy Hochul** (2:22)
These hyperscale AI data centers consume enormous amounts of power, truly threatening to outpace our grid's capacity, and they drive up costs for local ratepayers.

**Samantha Fields** (2:35)
That's a big point of contention around the country. But Danny Bahar at Brown University says there's actually evidence that data centers can reduce electricity costs.

**Danny Bahar** (2:45)
Now this is super counterintuitive, but one way to think about this is that these data centers are picking up some of these fixed costs for the infrastructure of the grid, and that actually allows consumers to pay less.

**Samantha Fields** (2:57)
Though he says that's not necessarily the case everywhere. New York is an outlier with this new moratorium.

**Kasia Tarczynska** (3:04)
A lot of states right now are pursuing data centers in hopes of economic development.

**Samantha Fields** (3:09)
But Kasia Tarczynska at the nonprofit Good Jobs First says it's not clear what the economic benefits are, if any.
There's evidence data centers don't create many long-term jobs. And in most states, they get all sorts of exemptions, from sales tax, property tax and income tax.

**Kasia Tarczynska** (3:26)
For every tax there is, that data center companies should be paying across the country, most likely, they are receiving quite big tax breaks.

**Samantha Fields** (3:35)
And she says all that money data centers aren't paying is money local communities aren't receiving, for things like schools, roads and other services. I'm Samantha Fields for Marketplace.

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**SPEAKER_1** (4:35)
This podcast is supported by Raymond James, a financial firm offering wealth management, banking, and capital market services that are inspired by people.
Before Raymond James' financial advisors build plans, they build relationships so they can craft individual strategies designed to achieve priorities and pursue what's possible. That's the power of personal. Disclosures at raymondjames.com. Raymond James and Associates Inc., member NYSE-CIPIC.

**Kimberly Adams** (5:05)
Delaware has long been the go-to state for registering companies because of its favorable business laws. But now Wyoming is taking a lead. That's largely because of low tax rates, the cryptocurrency industry, and now a business or chancery court. These specialized courts are known for offering accelerated timelines, consistency, and expertise. And now, the Mountain West News Bureau's Hanna Merzbach reports, they could entice more companies to move out west.