Nevada EO 2026-005 — responsible data center standard

Nevada — Executive Order 2026-005, Announced September 18, 2026: Establishes the 'Nevada Standard for Responsible Data Center Development,' Conditioning GOED Partial Tax Abatements on Full Payment of the Local School Support Tax, a Combined Sales-and-Use Rate of No Less Than 4.6% That May Not Be Abated, and a Binding 'Nevada Community Support Commitment' Covering Water, Ratepayer Costs and Grid Emergencies
Nevada · Nev. Exec. Order No. 2026-005 (Sept. 18, 2026) — Nevada Standard for Responsible Data Center Development

Status
In effect
Took effect
September 18, 2026
Applies to
Data center developers seeking a partial tax abatement through the Governor's Office of Economic Development — and only those developers. The Governor's Office of Economic Development, its executive director and the Board of Economic Development (application processing and conditions); the Director of the Office of Energy (Responsible Speed to Power Plan). A data center that does not seek a state abatement is outside the order's reach.
Enforced by
Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) and its Board of Economic Development, with consultation roles for the Nevada State Engineer, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, local governments and school districts

Nevada's governor signed an executive order creating what his office calls the Nevada Standard for Responsible Data Center Development. It works through the state's tax-abatement gate rather than through zoning or permitting: a data center developer that wants a partial tax abatement from the Governor's Office of Economic Development must now pay the Local School Support Tax IN FULL — that portion may not be abated in any amount — and must sign a binding Nevada Community Support Commitment before its application can go to the GOED Board at all. The commitment covers siting, neighboring communities, workforce, community benefits and transparency, and requires the developer to meet local water standards, to cover the cost of serving its own facility rather than passing that cost to other ratepayers, and to avoid straining the electrical grid during emergencies. The order sets a floor: a combined sales and use tax rate of not less than 4.6 percent, made up of the Sales and Use Tax Act and the Local School Support Tax, neither abatable. It also directs the state to produce a Responsible Speed to Power Plan identifying the generation and transmission needed to serve anticipated large-load demand through 2036. WHAT IT DOES NOT DO: it does not restrict, cap, or ban data center construction anywhere in Nevada. A developer willing to forgo a state tax abatement is not reached by this order at all. Its background matters for reading its strength — a 2015 abatement statute had obliged GOED to grant abatements to data centers meeting employment, wage and investment thresholds, with no energy or water protections and no discretion to refuse; the 2025 Legislature restored the Board's authority to deny, reduce or condition an award, and this order exercises that recovered discretion.

Who is protected: Nevada public schools funded by the Local School Support Tax; Nevada utility ratepayers who would otherwise absorb the cost of serving large data center loads; water users in the basins where these facilities site; and electric customers during grid emergencies.

Legal detail

Nev. Exec. Order No. 2026-005 (Sept. 18, 2026), establishing the Nevada Standard for Responsible Data Center Development. Operative mechanism: eligibility conditions on partial tax abatement applications before the Board of Economic Development. (1) Applicants must pay the Local School Support Tax in full; the order sets a combined sales and use tax rate of not less than 4.6%, comprising the Sales and Use Tax Act and the Local School Support Tax, 'neither of which may be abated in any amount, for applications brought before the Board.' (2) Applicants must execute a binding Nevada Community Support Commitment before the application may be placed before the Board, addressing the project's effects on utilities and surrounding communities and covering siting, neighboring communities, workforce, community benefits and transparency. (3) Substantive commitments required: compliance with local water standards; coverage of the full cost of serving the facility without passing those costs to ratepayers; and avoidance of grid strain during emergency conditions. Implementation directives: the GOED executive director shall publish the standard form of the commitment on or before November 6, 2026, in consultation with the State Engineer, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, state agencies, local governments and school districts; the executive director must notify applicants of incomplete applications within 30 days and place complete applications on the Board's next lawful agenda; and the Director of the Office of Energy shall deliver a Responsible Speed to Power Plan to the Governor by December 31, 2026, in consultation with affected utilities and the GOED executive director, identifying facilities needed to serve anticipated large-load demand through 2036. Statutory context: the 2015 data center abatement program required GOED to grant abatements to applicants meeting employment, wage and investment thresholds without energy or water conditions and without discretion to deny; 2025 legislation restored the Board's authority to deny an application, approve a lesser amount, or impose conditions — the authority this order directs the Board to exercise.

Key facts

JurisdictionNevada
LevelState
StrengthModerate
EnactedSeptember 18, 2026
CitationNev. Exec. Order No. 2026-005 (Sept. 18, 2026) — Nevada Standard for Responsible Data Center Development
Private right of actionNo, agency enforcement only
PenaltiesNot stated as a penalty regime. The sanction is structural: an application that lacks full Local School Support Tax payment or an executed Nevada Community Support Commitment cannot be placed before the Board of Economic Development.
Topicsdata-center siting and energy · consumer protection · government use of AI
News reportLombardo signs executive order setting standards for data center development — FOX5 Las Vegas

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