DCD Connect Virginia 2026 행사 보도에 따르면, 중간선거 결과가 행사 전반에 영향을 미치는 가운데에도 전력 확보 속도가 여전히 핵심 의제인 것으로 나타났다.

DCD held its annual Connect event in Virginia last week. The fifth iteration, hosted in the heart of the world's largest data center market, was the biggest yet in more ways than one.

With data centers more visible than ever in public discourse, the event received more coverage in mainstream publications than a niche industry conference could normally expect.

That coverage brought talk of the industry "crashing out" and let-them-eat-cake-style accusations of playing pickleball during an election week when data centers were resoundingly rejected at the ballot box.

Despite politics coming up in almost every panel, speed-to-power remained the main issue the industry was grappling with for much of the event: How do we get capacity live as quickly as possible, and how do we do so amid a wave of anti-data center sentiment?

These are not discrete problems, however. Being better grid neighbors could help ease some of the anxieties operators face in local communities, and being better community neighbors might open up locations with available sites for development.

**Speed-to-power still top of mind**

Despite the buzz around public perception, social license to operate, public trust, and the growing number of moratoriums, power was still seen as the main roadblock to data center development.

Speed to grid power and time to bring IT capacity online were the imperatives, especially at a time when hyperscalers are reportedly walking away from lease agreements where project timelines have slipped too far. As has been the case for the last couple of years, natural gas was seen as a short-term "bridge" solution for power, with modular building a way to speed up construction. It was acknowledged, however, that the scale and speed of the current build-out makes sustainability "more difficult, but not less important."

The audience heard that data centers need to be a grid resource, not a hindrance, and should work with utilities and grid operators to smooth out demand and avoid disturbances like the one narrowly avoided in Virginia last year. Becoming more active grid participants could also shift the perceptions of people who currently view more data centers as a problem.

One hyperscaler suggested that operators need a more collegiate approach to working with grid providers. Instead of pursuing individual upgrades, operators could come together to better coordinate future capacity needs.

Some operators, buoyed by reports that the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic are seeking data center deployments in the 20-30MW range for inference workloads, think there is still plenty of headroom and opportunity for mid-range projects. The sub-50MW market, a size that would have been considered hyperscale in the pre-LLM world, is viewed as an easier sell to locals and less difficult in terms of securing grid capacity.

**Election blues and the issue of trust**

The US midterm elections, unsurprisingly, saw voters reject most of the local data center measures put forward. Many senators, representatives, and governors with anti-data center policies came out on top. More than half of polled voters said data centers were an important factor in how they voted.

Although the elections were a key talking point after the results came out on the morning of the second day, the discussion was less a lament of "what do we do now?" and more a question of "how do we move forward with projects in a smarter way?"

There was a collective admission that the industry had not done enough to build trust with the public and is now reaping the consequences.

Misinformation came up repeatedly. Some argued that local politicians and residents can soften their opposition in the face of more accurate information on hot-button topics such as water use, energy bills, and ratepaying. Others argued this was no longer enough.

Attacking misinformation, however egregious, doesn't matter if people don't trust you. The industry, it was conceded, has historically not done enough to build trust with local communities. Transparency was described as key, but more important still is giving residents a genuine sense of choice.

We heard that developers too often arrive armed with facts and a checkbook, yet still tell residents what the project will be, rather than offering a real chance for communities to give feedback that meaningfully changes the final project.

Threatening to take projects elsewhere is unlikely to go down well, even if it is true, and even if the community may later regret losing out on tax dollars.

Others noted it is more important than ever to invest in community initiatives and infrastructure, however far removed from digital infrastructure they may be, so people feel they are benefiting from a data center that may be coming to their area.

Ratepayer pledges and promises to stop using non-disclosure agreements are a good start, but they are just the tip of the iceberg if the industry is to be truly trusted by local residents. Without trust, we were told, no amount of data to counter misinformation will help.

"You can have a community that works with you, or fights you at every step of the way," one panelist said.

To build that trust, one operator said it was important to hold regular meetings with community members. The audience was told that people would initially be angry and not there to learn, and that operators simply had to "take the punches." But the more operators show up and demonstrate commitment to a community, the more likely the initial anger is to subside and give way to a desire to learn about the project and how it could work for the area.

"Let them hate data centers as an industry," one panelist said, "as long as they love us as local partners."

**AI-ready networks, and the next great technology shift?**

During a panel debate, the audience heard that the fiber and networking needs of AI and neocloud companies could become astronomical. If the industry finds real demand for low-latency inferencing, there could be a new need for large amounts of local fiber, new carrier hotels, and new exchange points in areas that have traditionally been routed to larger connection hubs further away.

Some AI and neocloud customers, we heard, are seeking deployments with networking rooms of as many as 400 racks, a significant build in itself, alongside regular compute requirements.

While water use was discussed, the mass shift to liquid cooling was not as hot a topic as in previous years.

The industry seems to have grown quite comfortable deploying direct-to-chip and hybrid air/liquid cooling environments fairly quickly, at least in new builds.

The next great technology shift on the industry's horizon appears to be 800VDC power and what it means for operators. It is still too early for definitive answers, but change could come if rack densities keep rising as Nvidia promises they will. Megawatt-scale racks are a potentially daunting prospect, but the industry is not there yet.