Resistance to new data centers is mounting across the United States.
What’s new: Opponents of data centers are registering their disapproval through legislative channels and, in two recent instances, through acts of violence. Objections to these facilities include their impact on electricity prices, consumption of electricity and water, noise pollution, proximity to residential neighborhoods, and sprawling size. Around $64 billion worth of data-center projects have been blocked or delayed amid local opposition between May 2024 and March 2025, one research group estimates.
How it works: Some of this resistance is being expressed through democratic channels.
- Maine’s state legislature passed a bill that places a moratorium on new data centers that require 20 megawatts of power or more until 2027. The measure awaits the governor’s signature. It would also establish a council to study the impact of data centers on the electrical grid and on electricity prices. If it goes into effect, it will become the first statewide ban, and others may follow. At least 12 other states have filed data center moratorium bills in 2026.
- The city of Port Washington, Wisconsin, recently passed a referendum that requires voter approval before it can grant tax incentives for large projects including data centers. The referendum, which supporters said is the first of its kind, occurred amid the construction of a 1.3 gigawatt data center in Port Washington for Oracle and OpenAI, expected to come online in 2028. City leaders offered tax incentives to attract the project.The referendum passed on a two-to-one margin but is under legal review after business groups challenged it in court, Politico reported.
- In Festus, Missouri, voters ousted all city council members who had voted to approve a $6 billion data center in the city.
- A citizen-initiated ballot measure in Ohio aims to amend the state constitution to prohibit future data centers that require over 25 megawatts. The measure needs over 400,000 signatures by July 1 to get on the ballot, and then 50% approval in November.
- Boulder City, Nevada, postponed a scheduled hearing for an 88.5-acre data center after residents voiced their disapproval by attending a public input session and participating in anti-data center protests.
- Opposition has also surfaced in Maryland, where residents in two counties rallied against proposed data-center developments.
Violent responses: Antipathy toward data centers has been implicated in violence in at least two cases.
- In San Francisco, a man recently threw a molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Less than an hour later, the man went to the OpenAI headquarters and threatened to burn down the building, NPR reported. The man had written about the risk that AI poses to humanity, a federal affidavit states.
- 13 gunshots were fired at the home of an Indianapolis councilor, who had supported a $500 million data center in the city. A note that read “no data centers” was tucked under Gibson’s doormat.
Behind the news: Lack of transparency around some projects is a key gripe of opponents. In the Missouri development, for example, the operator of the data center has not been publicly identified. Critics also point to the environmental footprint of the facilities, particularly their noise levels, large square footage, energy demands, and water consumption. However, newer data centers have more environmentally friendly designs, such as more water-efficient closed-loop systems to cool their servers. Further, an increasing number of data centers supply their own power through privately owned, off-the-grid power plants.
Why it matters: The rapid growth of AI has led to surging demand for data centers, but electricity is emerging as a key constraint in some regions. Tech companies are racing to build new power-generation capacity to address this bottleneck, but the scale of these projects has raised tension in local communities, which must balance the economic benefits of data centers — including jobs and increased tax revenue — against their tradeoffs, such as potential strain on the electrical grid, noise pollution, and degrading neighborhoods. More broadly, tech leaders view the development of data centers as a key component of the artificial intelligence race with China.
We’re thinking: Some data center operators are more responsible than others. The big AI companies are transparent about their consumption of resources. Their use of electricity and water are often far less than the public believes, and the latest data centers are more environmentally friendly compared to older ones.