Local Opposition Stalls $68 Billion in US Data Center Projects

Data center opposition blocked or delayed 45 US projects worth $68 billion between April and June, according to research group Data Center Watch. 

Public sentiment keeps souring, and statehouses are catching up with moratoriums on new construction and tighter rules. 

30 Statehouses Move on Data Center Rules

Some 30 statehouses introduced or adopted measures covering siting, electricity, and water issues, Watch said. Communities increasingly move before developers can file for permits.

The pace of disruption has eased since the start of the year. The firm recorded 75 blocked or delayed projects worth roughly $130 billion between January and March.

Even so, the 45 projects made up more than half of all new large-scale developments tracked during the quarter. That squeeze has turned Bitcoin miners into unlikely landlords, because their already-permitted power sites are some of the few places an artificial intelligence (AI) developer can plug in without waiting years for a grid connection.

Notably, active opposition groups now number 843 across 49 states, with Hawaii the only exception. Online organizing is amplifying the pressure. One Tennessee petition drew more than 500,000 signatures on Change.org. 

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Lead analyst Miquel Vila said the movement continues to widen.

“New groups continue to emerge, opposition is appearing across a wide range of states and jurisdictions, and online petition signatures continue to grow,” he said.

The Backlash Crosses Borders

The firm also logged protests outside the US for the first time in two years of tracking. Campaigns have surfaced in Europe, Australia, and South Africa. Those organizers are fighting the same battles as their American counterparts.

The White House treats the resistance as a political problem rather than a planning one. President Donald Trump told communities that rejecting data centers would leave them behind and poor.

He went further on September 14, dismissing warnings about artificial intelligence as a hoax. The pressure is already reaching investor filings. 

Anthropic will name public hostility toward AI and data centers as a risk factor in its IPO prospectus, according to media reports. The next quarter figures will settle one open question. Either fewer communities are fighting, or fewer projects are reaching the stage where residents can fight them.

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