# What should a community agreement actually contain?

A promise becomes inspectable when the party, baseline, deadline, report and remedy are named.

Canonical: https://brightaifuture.com/guides/community-benefit-agreement-checklist
Format: guide
Source publication: Not established
Bright publication: 2026-09-19
Substantive update: None recorded
Evidence and review: Primary-source review completed 2026-09-19; Bright did not reproduce the cited research.

## Turn nouns into obligations

“Jobs” should identify construction or operations, direct or contracted, headcount or job-years, wage floor, local-hiring geography and evidence of placement. “Water” should name the source, seasonal limit, withdrawal, consumption and reporting interval. “Grid investment” should identify the asset, payer, tariff or contract, completion date and treatment of cancellation.

## Write for verification

A durable agreement names the legal parties, baseline, project phase, reporting cadence, public location of reports, independent audit rights, remedies and survival after a sale. Tax incentives, backup-generator emissions, noise, road use, workforce programs and local procurement each need a measure and denominator. A signature is a start; delivery appears in later records.

## Limitations

This checklist is editorial guidance, not legal advice.

Pennsylvania’s framework is a policy example, not evidence that every supported project has a negotiated agreement.

Local law and bargaining power shape what is enforceable.

## Provenance and history

{
  "provenance": {
    "publisher": "Bright",
    "role": "Source-backed evergreen explanation; not a new scientific result"
  }
}

## Original sources

- [Pennsylvania GRID standards](https://dced.pa.gov/business-assistance/data-center-resources/grid-standards/)

## Continue exploring

- [Pennsylvania’s conditions for supported projects](https://brightaifuture.com/discoveries/pa-grid-standards)