Nevada

Energy/Power is the dominant stressor: NV Energy projections say the state must roughly double electrical infrastructure over 20 years to serve data-center load growth, and roughly a dozen centers in TRIC have requested almost 6 GW within a decade. Nevada Legislature Water/Geology is the close second: Southern Nevada’s evaporative-cooling ban, Lake Mead dependence, and northern Nevada groundwater/effluent constraints keep water central to the debate. Las Vegas Review-Journal

None identified at the federal, statewide, or countywide race level as of May 12, 2026; the clearest electoral fight is the Boulder City, Nevada Question 1 ballot measure, not a candidate race. Ballotpedia

No statewide data-center moratorium or ban is enacted or pending in the sources reviewed, but Southern Nevada has an important de facto water restriction: the valley-wide ban on evaporative cooling systems was finalized in 2024, which effectively rules out more water-intensive data centers there. Las Vegas Review-Journal Local political activity in 2026 is more about land-use approval and resource limits than a formal statewide pause. Ballotpedia

Nevada enacted 2025 legislation that pushes some project-level cost recovery onto developers: NRS 360.889 now allows local governments to require qualifying projects in economic diversification districts to sign agreements to defray local government services and infrastructure costs, capped at the lesser of 10% of the tax abatement or the amount needed to cover those costs. Nevada Legislature The same law says if a participant is a data center, its capital investment does not count toward the $1 billion threshold for the broader project incentive. Nevada Legislature I did not find a 2026 Nevada bill creating a special data-center utility rate class or directly reallocating transmission costs to residential customers, though NV Energy says it is arranging agreements so new growth pays its own way. Las Vegas Review-Journal

Boulder City, Nevada Question 1 is on the 2026 ballot and would allow data center facilities as an approved land use within the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area, excluding the Multi-species Habitat Conservation Easement. Ballotpedia

1) Switch campus expansion, Apex Industrial Park, North Las Vegas — Switch bought 176 acres for a possible new campus; status is proposed/early-stage, with no formal application yet. Las Vegas Review-Journal 2) Novva Apex site, North Las Vegas — Novva bought nearly 205 acres in Apex in 2025; status is proposed/early-stage. Las Vegas Review-Journal 3) Boulder City Eldorado Valley Transfer Area data-center land-use change — status is contested and headed to a November 2026 vote. Ballotpedia

Great Basin Water Network; Nevada Sierra Club; Data Center Watch (tracking opposition nationally, with Nevada not yet showing organized petition groups on its map); Southern Nevada Water Authority has been an institutional gatekeeper on water-intensive cooling; Truckee Meadows Water Authority and Reno-area water stakeholders are central in the north. Las Vegas Review-Journal Las Vegas Review-Journal

Inclusion criteria satisfied: Jobs-promised-vs-delivered. Reno/Sparks and Las Vegas Valley hyperscale buildouts; state economic-development scrutiny of job-creation claims. Primary-source verification pending — full content in v1.2. Sub-state and labor-market analysis available in the full RAIL briefing.

Growing cluster. Nevada has about 70 planned, under-construction, or operational data-center locations, with major concentrations in Clark County, Storey County/TRIC, and growing activity around Reno-Sparks and Apex. Nevada Legislature Las Vegas Review-Journal

“Roughly a dozen data centers — mainly in TRIC — have requested almost six gigawatts of power within the next decade.” — Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau memo, March 20, 2026. Nevada Legislature

Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau memo on data centers, Nevada statutes 2025 session: Chapter 334 / SB 69, Ballotpedia on 2026 data center ballot measures, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Nevada’s data center boom, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Switch’s Apex land purchase, MultiState on data center ballot trends