Please note that the schedule and panel lineup are subject to change. Kindly refer to this space for the most up-to-date information.
A keynote speech to demand growth, grid readiness, and the federal priorities that will shape data center policy over the next two years. The keynote establishes the throughline for the entire program: these are no longer technical questions but decisions with immediate political and commercial consequences.
Chief executives and data center leadership from hyperscalers, REITs, and major developers speak candidly about what it actually takes to build at frontier scale — power availability, water access, siting constraints, and the community terms that shape every project. Rather than focusing on paperwork and process, this panel asks what would genuinely accelerate delivery on the ground.
Members of Congress, state legislators, and industry association leaders unpack who actually holds the authority to decide where America builds. The conversation is grounded in legislation currently moving through statehouses and Congress — permitting jurisdiction, federal preemption, measurement standards, and incentive structures — rather than abstract policy debate.
Panelists:
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam
Del. John McAuliff
Utility leadership, grid operators, state regulators, and independent analysts confront what may be the single most consequential commercial question of the next two years: who pays for the power new data centers require. The panel tracks live decisions being made simultaneously in Richmond, at PJM, and at FERC over large-load tariffs, cost allocation, and the interconnection queue.
Panelist
Ted Trabue
Infrastructure investors, private capital principals, and data center capital markets leaders explain how policy risk — not capital scarcity — has become the real constraint on deployment. With capital abundant, the panel examines how permitting delays, tariff uncertainty, and community opposition now get priced directly into underwriting decisions, and what would unlock faster investment.
County leadership, public-opinion researchers, community advocates, and industry public affairs voices treat public acceptance itself as a delivery risk. Presented under Knowledge Networks' "AI on the Ballot" banner and designed to be nonpartisan in both substance and format, the session examines what actually drives local sentiment, why some projects clear approval while others stall, and what that means heading into 2027.
Panelists
Michael R. Turner