Policy Analysis

Side-by-side comparisons of how states make decisions when a new industry outgrows the existing rules: what they offer, what they require, who pays, and how they check the results. Each project is built from statutes, commission orders, court records, and agency documents, with the underlying data available to download.

Data centers and the grid

• Which data center load counts — How six PJM states screen data center electricity requests before they count in the load forecast: forecast review, contract terms, collateral, and duplicate-request disclosure.

• Who pays for data center power — How five states set the terms large electricity customers must accept: size thresholds, minimum bills, contract terms, exit fees, and collateral.

• What states changed on data centers in 2026 — What legislatures, governors, utility regulators, and local governments changed this year in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Georgia.

Incentives and accountability

• State data center incentives, compared — How five states structure their data center sales tax exemptions: eligibility, investment and job requirements, and duration.

• What counts as exempt data center equipment — Which equipment qualifies under each state’s exemption.

• How states check their tax incentives — How ten states evaluate whether their incentives deliver what they promise, and what happens to programs after review.

Infrastructure and what comes next

• DOE’s SPARK grid selections, tracked — The Department of Energy’s 31 SPARK grid-upgrade selections: who was selected, what they’ll build, and where each project stands.

• Are state rules ready for quantum computing? — Whether the rules five states wrote for data centers would apply to quantum computing facilities.

Payments and consumer finance

• Is it a loan? How states set payments rules — How eleven states classify earned wage access, how a federal bill would change state authority, and how Illinois and Colorado handled card fees on sales tax and tips.

Why this work

I spent seven and a half years in Pennsylvania state government, including four years as Director of Performance and Transformation in the Office of Governor Tom Wolf, leading the Commonwealth’s performance-based budgeting engagement across twenty-nine executive agencies. These projects apply the same discipline — turning program detail into measurable, comparable evidence — to the questions states are facing now.

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