POWER PLAY: Titus, Lee Took $662K From Data-Center, Energy-Linked PACs as Nevada Demand Surges

Nevada Democrat Reps. Dina Titus and Susie Lee have collected more than $662,000 from political action committees connected to companies active in data centers, utilities, telecommunications, energy and the infrastructure feeding America’s artificial-intelligence boom, according to a review of Federal Election Commission records.

We calculated at least $321,590 in contributions to Titus from PACs connected to companies including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, NV Energy, Cox, Comcast, Honeywell and Southwest Gas. It separately identifies at least $341,000 going to Lee from PACs associated with Amazon, Google, Dell, NV Energy, NextEra Energy, Southern Company, Verizon and other companies with data-center or energy-sector exposure. Together, the listed contributions total $662,590 across multiple election cycles.

The financial relationships are receiving new scrutiny as Nevada confronts the staggering electricity demands created by the artificial-intelligence and data-center gold rush.

NV Energy told state regulators this year that it now expects to need 47 percent more electricity than it projected only two years ago, primarily to satisfy data-center demand in Northern Nevada. The utility has also reported inquiries from data-center operators seeking roughly 22 gigawatts of power, while already executing agreements involving approximately 6 gigawatts of infrastructure needed to connect large customers to the grid. 

Titus and Lee also voted in August 2022 for President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which dramatically expanded federal clean-energy incentives. The legislation passed the House 220-207, with both Nevada Democrats voting yes. 

Those subsidies did not exist in a vacuum. Data-center operators can use energy-related incentives expanded under the law, including credits involving solar generation, battery storage and other technologies. Industry tax advisers have specifically promoted the Inflation Reduction Act’s expanded investment tax credit to data-center operators, with qualifying systems potentially receiving credits worth 30 percent or more.

And the donor list reads like a cross-section of the infrastructure powering the AI boom.

Microsoft says it maintains more than 500 data centers worldwide. NextEra Energy has announced plans to build 15 gigawatts of power generation for data-center hubs by 2035. Cox markets colocation and data-center services. Google builds and operates its own facilities, while companies including Dell, Honeywell, Leidos and Verizon market technology or infrastructure directly into the sector.

Nevada’s data-center expansion can produce construction jobs, capital investment and tax revenue. The emerging political fight, however, is over whether ordinary ratepayers will eventually be left financing the enormous generation, transmission and grid upgrades needed to keep those server farms humming.

Congress has already entered that fight. The House overwhelmingly passed the Ratepayer Protection Act on September 16, directing state regulators to consider standards designed to make extraordinarily large electricity customers responsible for incremental grid costs generated by their operations. The measure cleared the chamber 417-3. 

For Titus and Lee, the intersection is increasingly difficult to ignore: federal subsidies, enormous electricity demand, campaign money and the companies positioned to profit from Nevada’s transformation.

The contributions guarantee more scrutiny as Nevada regulators confront the costs of keeping pace with AI demand.

Speak Up, Nevada! What’s on Your Mind? Send us your opinion!

Got the inside scoop on something happening in Nevada? Or the country? Do you have thoughts about life in Nevada that are too good to keep to yourself? Whether it’s a hot take on our politics, crime, education, or even the secret to surviving our summers, we’re all ears! Swing them our way at editor@thenevadaglobe.com. Come on, give us the scoop on what makes Nevada tick—or what ticks you off. Let’s make some noise and have some fun with it!