Infrastructure

One, in Red Oak, is a 480-megawatt data center campus on 292 acres. Construction is underway. A second, roughly $1 billion data center project on 60 acres near the Bush Turnpike got city economic incentives last week.

Statewide cybersecurity initiatives, like whole-of-state programs, are offering essential support to smaller communities and agencies. Backed by federal funding, they aim to bridge resource gaps and strengthen defenses against cyber threats.

The city has taken a big step as it transitions to a clean public transit system. The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority has become the operator of the largest electrified bus depot in the state, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

Officials estimate they’ll get 51,000 complaints this year about missed trash pickups — but that could change. The City Council on Thursday approved a $6 million, five-year contract for tablets and software to fix the problem.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will help pay for dozens of new electric vehicle charging stations. Locations will include city parks, parking garages, and curbsides. The money will have city and utility matching funds.

The state’s most populous county is piloting installation of 12 solar streetlights near the Downtown South area of Las Vegas. It has been hard hit by copper wire theft, which has kept conventional lights dark for months.

Buoyed by more than half a billion federal dollars, the state’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program is accepting applications through Oct. 15 to improve high-speed Internet.

The city manager’s area of the proposed 2025 fiscal year budget includes $900,000 for costs related to a future broadband network that would be built by Allo Fiber, with the city.

The Northern California local government had to recalibrate the destination for about $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding. It will use the money to incentivize Internet service providers to build in the county.

The city’s Common Council has approved its police department’s plan to use a nearly $1.15 million state block grant to upgrade technology. The money should pay for 40 to 50 surveillance cameras and 10 license plate readers.

The county’s commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed moratorium Sept. 12 — when it will also consider an application for a direct air carbon capture facility. Officials put a moratorium on direct air capture facilities in July.

Research from CivicPulse shows many of the 1,219 U.S. counties with no public electric vehicle charging infrastructure are mostly rural with fewer than 25,000 residents. But more populous counties, too, lack chargers.

Gov. Mike Parson’s administration will spend $243,750 to purchase 21 additional license plate readers, to supplement law enforcement during a personnel shortage. A contract with Atlanta-based Flock Safety took effect Aug. 1.

The City Council approved spending an estimated $247,000 on 25 cameras and a supporting system. A use policy and locations must be determined before the project gets final approval.

The labels, required by the Federal Communications Commission, are intended to make monthly costs, subscription terms and network speeds clearer. Advocates and opponents continue to debate their existence.

Only a few data centers are now operating in the state, but at least six more are being developed. With that in mind, government, utility and data company officials met to discuss what happens next.

Much of the northeastern Oklahoma county already has broadband service. About 10,000 households and businesses in seven areas, however, are still without — but nearly are expected to be online by January 2026.

Officials at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services have deployed a new tool with robotic process automation that scans suspicious emails. It has eliminated a backlog of nearly 3,000 messages.