The new regional law aims to curb the uncontrolled expansion of data centres, encouraging the reuse of disused industrial areas and ensuring control over the environmental and energy impact.
by Sara Monaci
Lombardy tries to regulate data centres. It is the first Region in Italia to approve alaw aimed at discouraging their construction, through a considerable tightening of construction charges: 100% more than today in agricultural areas and 200% more in parks.
The rule was approved on 26 May 2026 by the regional council after a long debate, which also saw partial cooperation from the centre-left opposition (during the vote, three democrats abstained and three walked out of the chamber).
The final OK came not without surprises: while the initial draft spoke of an increase in charges of between 50 and 75 per cent, for rural areas and parks respectively, the increase will now be 100 per cent in rural areas and 200 per cent in green areas (after the amendment of the Lega group leader, Alessandro Corbetta).
A sting that should serve not to stop but at least to discourage the tendency to buy areas with the aim - often without clear timeframes and plans, Lombardy's top management notes - of building data centres.
The reason why Lombardy is ahead not only of the other regions, but also of the government itself, is that it has the largest number of projects implemented or to be implemented.
There are already 33 active data centres in the Milan metropolitan area alone; a further 10 are under construction and 23 under evaluation.
If the Milan hinterland is the most 'targeted' area, an increase in interest is also registered in the other provinces: in the rest of Lombardy there are three already active, plus one under construction and five under evaluation.
Lombardy alone accounted for 63% of the applications submitted throughout Italia.
The estimate of the Department of Local Authorities and Energy Resources is that of the 22 billion investments initiated throughout the country, half are concentrated on Lombardy's soil, on the basis of sudden plans, moreover, that will be developed in just five years.
Among those who have chosen to focus on the data economy, investing in Lombardy, are Amazon, Aruba, Eni and Stack Emea, to give a few examples.
'We cannot, in the light of these numbers, block the development of companies and employment, the race for artificial intelligence is already a fact,' says Lombardy councillor Massimo Sertori. 'We can, however, try to keep the phenomenon under control by avoiding excesses and the exaggerated exploitation of the territory.
The law, therefore, provides a strong disincentive to build in green areas, where the impact would not be environmentally sustainable, but at the same time the use of disused former industrial areas is favoured. In this case there are no additional burdens, but rather the law proposes bureaucratic simplifications.
With regard to the concerns about the risk of out-of-control energy consumption, councillor Sertori tends to downplay them, however: 'We have applications for 30 Gigawatts throughout Italia, half of which are in Lombardy. But in our area, seeing the real and more concrete projects, we should only authorise a maximum of 2 gigawatts of energy. With this law we intend to fill a gap, with certain rules and uniform procedures for investments'.
According to the Lombardy law Terna will be part of the steering committee and will map the availability of energy at the sites.
From the opposition spoke the democrat Matteo Piloni: 'In Lombardy we have tried to fill the void of the Meloni government on industrial policies. The development of data centres is necessary but it cannot be left to chance or to the market alone, a political vision is needed. However, this law lacks real and decisive soil protection, because neither the government nor the region have put in place stringent constraints. We will have to wait for a national law.