Convened by: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), and Calvert Research and Management. 

Data centers are being built at a scale and pace the U.S. power system has not seen in decades. Grids, watersheds, and host communities are absorbing the impact, and local opposition is now shaping where projects go and how long they take. ICCR, Calvert Research and Management, and C2ES are convening this roundtable as a step toward shared expectations for how this buildout gets done.  

This Chatham House Rule roundtable will bring together hyperscalers, electric utilities, banks, investors, and NGOs to explore challenges of the AI buildout, including growing electricity demand, affordability, grid resiliency, water stewardship, community engagement & opposition, and system-level coordination. The roundtable will provide a valuable opportunity for a focused discussion on these challenges and potential paths forward that participants can continue to coalesce around. 

For questions about the program, contact Naila Karamally, Manager of Climate Stewardship and Sustainable Investing at karamallyn@c2es.org.