Nevada Governor's Data Center Support Raises Ethics Concerns After AI Donations

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo's endorsement of data center expansion has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest following significant political donations from figures with ties to the industry.

According to campaign finance records reviewed by The Lever, three days after artificial intelligence investor Ben Horowitz and his wife Felicia donated $1 million to the Better Nevada PAC supporting Lombardo's reelection campaign, the governor publicly endorsed data centers in a video posted on X. A week later, the PAC received another $1 million from Jessica Roy, wife of Rob Roy, founder of Switch, a major data center developer in Nevada.

The revelation comes as Nevada, the driest state in the nation, grapples with the substantial resource demands of data centers. Since 2021, Nevada has provided approximately $340 million in state tax abatements to the industry, which now boasts around 70 data centers in operation, under construction, or in planning stages.

Recent research suggests that data center expansion could triple the state's energy demands and consume as much water annually as roughly 150,000 households. In response, several cities and counties across Nevada have begun imposing moratoriums on new data center developments.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, Lombardo's Democratic opponent in the upcoming election, has criticized the governor's stance on data centers and recently sued the federal government over cuts to its Colorado River allocation. "Now we know why Joe Lombardo says he's 'wholeheartedly in support of data centers: He's bought and paid for by them,'" Ford stated in response to the donations. "Taking care of his and Trump's 'billionaire friends' at Nevadans' expense is standard operating procedure from Lombardo."

On June 25, Lombardo received an additional $5 million from the Republican Governors Association, a nonprofit dedicated to electing GOP governors. Since January 2025, the association has received at least $8.5 million from individuals and companies invested in AI and data centers. Notable donors include Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, who donated $3 million, and Paul Singer, CEO of Elliott Investment Management, who donated $2.5 million. Both Citadel and Elliott have significant investments in AI and data centers.

Lombardo has argued that Nevada can pioneer a model for states to work with data centers effectively. In a June op-ed for the Reno Gazette Journal, he wrote that data centers present an opportunity to diversify Nevada's economy and strengthen the workforce, provided there are appropriate safeguards to protect residents from higher utility bills and to conserve the state's water resources.

However, a January report from the Desert Research Institute found that in 2024, data centers consumed 22% of the state's electrical generation, a figure projected to grow to 35% by 2030. The same report estimated that current development plans could result in data centers consuming up to 16 billion gallons of water annually — enough for approximately 150,000 households each year.

In May, NV Energy, Nevada's largest energy provider, issued a report stating that the state's future energy demands will nearly triple due to data centers. Earlier this month, NV Energy sued Tract, a data center developer, claiming the company is attempting to pass infrastructure and energy costs onto consumers.

Lombardo's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.