The Rural National Defense Initiative
Local government and community engagement for responsible and strategically sited data center projects.
Operation
DISPERSION
The highest concentration of data centers in the world exists in one county outside Washington, DC—Loudoun County, Virginia. This cluster of data centers, hyperscale data centers, and data center campuses represents a serious national security threat and vulnerability for the United States. Rural America can fix it.
The Rural Solution: Infrastructure
The United States has more than 650 million acres of grassland pasture and rangeland, separate from cropland, according to USDA. Dispersed data and energy infrastructure can be built and connected from afar.
On data centers: "The reliance of critical services on concentrated infrastructure introduces security concerns.”
— Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery
United States Navy
Source: here.
“Data is now the front line of warfare.”
— Center For Strategic & International Studies
Source: here.
Infrastructure: Away From Homes
Generating new power, AI capacity, and broadband access does not need to take away our farm and ranch properties. We can build smart, and the consequences for Rural America will be measured in profits.
On top of America's data center cluster problem, China is way ahead of us in critical infrastructure and energy development. International energy agencies reported in 2025 that China added 358 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar generating capacity the year prior, and had 1.6 million fast EV charging points compared to 43 GW of capacity added and 50,000 fast charging points in America.
The good news is that catching up will benefit rural communities, create new and dual profit streams, and generate new economic development while making America both more competitive and secure.
Crops grow and animals can graze under solar panels. Agrivoltaics creates dual incomes on farms and ranches, as do wind turbines when leased across rural properties, using limited acreage.
Data centers are "the cloud," requiring physical fiber connections. When built in rural areas, the fiber connections can bring broadband and new opportunities to rural schools, governments, and homes.
Data center dispersion drives investment in America’s electric grid. Planned strategically, this investment can strengthen connections between regions and bring more rural energy resources to market.
News &
Information
RNDI makes all the news and information from our partner organization Farmed available to our website readers and subscribers in addition to our own, including the rural-specific articles, white papers, and studies from 14 state pages: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming — click any state name or here to be taken to RNDI's state pages.
