The centre-right is at a loss as to how to manage data centres

There may only have been two hundred of them – as even the sympathetic newspapers reported – but last Saturday’s rally in Lacchiarella on the outskirts of Milan (with the catchy slogan “Facciamo rumore”) marks an important milestone for the No Data committees’ initiative. It was the first rally of any significance, following a different kind of mobilisation in Certosa (“the Festival of Natural Intelligence”) and, above all, it sparked a flurry of appeals and calls for open town council meetings across the Milanese hinterland. In the specific case of Lacchiarella, the protest was organised by the Ciarlasco committee in direct opposition to a 3 billion investment by the Pimco fund, described by No Data activists as one of the largest in Europe. But not far away, in the area between Zibido San Giacomo and Binasco, another mega-plant by K2 Strategic (reported to be worth 5.6 billion) and a new 100,000-square-metre Terna power station are planned. The organisers of the Lacchiarella meeting allege that the land on which these new ‘empty factories’ are to be built is greenfield, and that this therefore constitutes excessive land consumption.

Having fulfilled our duty to report the news, let us step back for a moment from the local protests and the new NIMBY movements, and try to take a macro view of the data centre phenomenon – the largest influx of foreign direct investment into Italy that has been underway for some time. A phenomenon we had not foreseen. A ‘gold rush’ – as it has even been described – which, given the saturation of traditional markets in Northern Europe, from Frankfurt to Dublin, from London to Amsterdam, is now turning its attention to Northern Italy and is bound to generate expectations and benefits. What’s more, this is happening at a time when the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) has come to an end and the only investments currently underway are those linked to machinery purchases incentivised by the ‘Transizione 5.0’ scheme.

So far, we have rightly focused on the concentration in Lombardy, centred on the Milan hub and along the routes leading to Pavia and Novara. But something similar is also happening in Piedmont, where local authorities are recording, with ill-concealed satisfaction, 80 applications for new facilities that would be added to the 16 already in operation. In Lombardy, according to the Politecnico di Milano, there are already 33 active facilities, with 10 under construction in the metropolitan area alone. Total estimates for Italy stand at 25 billion in investment between 2026 and 2028, of which almost two-thirds will be in Lombardy. A largely incomplete list of investors includes Bain, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Digital Realty, Aruba and Equinix. In terms of growth rate and concentration of capital on individual projects, the flow of investment into data centres is unrivalled. And for this reason, you can be sure that the issue of new facilities and local protests will be the focus of media attention from September onwards.

The concentration of investment in Lombardy has prompted reactions from local committees, not only because of the risks associated with land consumption, but also due to the impact on energy and water networks caused by the high energy and water requirements of data centres. It is not only the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIMIT) or the regions concerned that are watching the investments by big tech companies with interest, but also the individual small municipalities called upon to host these data centres. For a local council, a development of this kind can be worth between 3 and 15 million in urbanisation charges and IMU (property tax), representing an unexpected boost to the budget. This explains the reactions of mayors such as Marcello Infurna of Certosa, who, in an interview with the daily newspaper Avvenire, declared himself opposed to the "demonisation" of data centres. “It’s better to manage the processes than to be at their mercy. And to bring home 100 highly skilled jobs.” In reality, whilst some dream of mini Silicon Valleys, the contribution to employment from the new facilities is not exceptional, and in fact the trade unions have not shown much enthusiasm so far. To monitor the servers, 30–50 technicians are needed per shift – no more. Whilst CGIL, CISL and UIL have yet to weigh up the trade-off between land use and job creation, Legambiente and the WWF are mobilising; and on the political front, the AVS led by Bonelli and Fratoianni is seeking to support the local committees, having adopted the key arguments against land use, the risks of power cuts and water wastage.

Whilst the situation is still evolving and there is as yet no national law to regulate the matter and govern data traffic, local authorities have not been sitting idly by. The Lombardy region has enacted a regional law, and Piedmont has already stated its intention to follow suit. Having come into force on 20 June, the law seeks to combine incentives with penalties and aims to ensure the orderly development of investment without harming the local area. How? The first guideline is to use derelict industrial sites – known in the trade as ‘brownfields’ – to locate new data centres. In return, developers pay lower costs, benefit from fast-track procedures and other simplification measures. If, on the other hand, foreign investors choose agricultural land for their ‘empty factories’, building charges increase by 100 per cent; if the land is situated within nature reserves, the increase rises to 200 per cent. For the centre-right, which governs Lombardy, enacting a law of this kind has been an original test of administrative regulation – a field in which the centre-left is more accustomed to operating, albeit with mixed results. But beyond the law’s political and cultural underpinnings, it will be interesting to see whether it works, or whether a multinational, in order to choose the site that best suits it, is prepared to pay the penalties without batting an eyelid.

On the subject of energy consumption too, the provisions introduced by Governor Attilio Fontana and entrusted to the relevant councillor, Massimo Sertori, oblige investors to use only energy produced from renewable sources. They also include a ban on using public water mains to cool servers. Finally, the use of waste heat recovery technologies is required to channel this heat into local district heating networks. Furthermore, mayors of smaller towns have access to a handbook on negotiating bans and compensation measures, which ensures they are not left to face the Big Tech companies alone; at the same time, Fontana and his team are convinced that their law will not scare off investors precisely because it sensibly balances incentives and disincentives. These considerations have not, however, entirely won over the opposition (the PD, AVS and the Five Star Movement, joined by the CGIL), which, whilst not going so far as to mount a full-scale protest, accuses the law of setting penalties that are easily circumvented, of failing to protect the environment and of sacrificing the most fertile land. It is likely, however, that Piedmont – led by a centre-right regional government – will follow the approach adopted by Lombardy when drafting its own regional law. Initial indications suggest there will be a mapping of areas, with priority given to brownfield sites, whilst nature parks and nature reserves will be excluded. In Piedmont, too, investors will be obliged to use renewable energy sources and low-water-consumption cooling systems.

So, should we tip our hats to the centre-right majority for taking timely action at local level? No. Unfortunately, the Meloni coalition lacks consistency, and so whilst in Lombardy they were striving to regulate the matter sensibly, in Parliament someone slipped a provision into Article 8 of the Bollette Decree that bypasses the regions. In fact, for projects recognised by the government as being of "national interest", big tech companies can build their data centres wherever they like, and no amendment to the local town planning scheme is even required. All they need to do is pay the additional construction charges, and they can bypass local consultation with the regions and local councils. And there are already at least three cases (Magenta, Bollate and Peschiera Borromeo) where, according to Il Sole 24 Ore, an administrative conflict of this kind between the state and the Lombardy region is already unfolding. The truth is that the centre-right clearly does not have a clear idea of how to manage the investment flows linked to the construction of new facilities. In Milan, it is considering a compromise between the public and private sectors; in Rome, it believes it is fairer for politicians to step aside and walk away whistling.