Disclosure
Our relationship with the Compute Stewardship Council.
Baseload Commons was founded by the same person who founded the Compute Stewardship Council, an independent nonprofit that publishes a standard for AI data centers and certifies facilities against it. The two organizations are separate. The Council's independent board and Certification Committee make certification decisions, and our founder takes no part in any decision involving a facility we worked on. The Council lists us as one of its recognized program designers, on the same terms as any other firm, and every Council scorecard names the program designer a facility used.
We design programs. We do not certify them. If you want a program that will be audited by the Council, you should know that we will have no contact with the assessors who audit it.
In practice, this means:
- Our founder is recused from every Council certification decision, assessor assignment, appeal, and complaint involving a facility that used Baseload Commons within the prior three years, and never sits on the Council's Certification Committee.
- Our staff and contractors do not serve as Council assessors or Council-contracted facilitators.
- We never hold, disburse, or administer community fund money. Funds sit at community foundations in the host region under agreements with the Council or with the fund sponsor.
- We are paid by our clients on fixed fees. We take no percentage of fund inflows and no fee tied to a permit outcome.
- The Council's recognized program designer list includes other firms, on the same terms, and the Council may delist any designer whose programs repeatedly fail its community benefit pillar.