Big technology firms are running into a wall of local resistance as they try to build massive data centers across the country, with residents in small towns and suburbs pushing back against developments they say threaten their communities.
The wave of opposition is spreading fast. Towns and cities nationwide are sharing strategies and information about stopping data center construction plans that keep getting larger to handle growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Companies searching for reliable electricity connections are branching into new areas, but they’re meeting fierce resistance.
Local government officials face tough decisions about whether these facilities, which use enormous amounts of electricity and water, belong in their communities. Many places lack clear rules about data centers, forcing boards to consider special exceptions or draft new laws from scratch.
What used to be quiet town meetings are now packed with upset residents demanding their leaders say no. “Would you want this built in your backyard?” Larry Shank asked officials in East Vincent Township, Pennsylvania, last month. “Because that’s where it’s literally going, is in my backyard.”
Daimakku1 on
Not in my area.. there were protestors but it doesn’t matter. This place is ruby red. Republicans don’t care what their farmer voters want, they know they’ll still vote GOP no matter what.
Strange-Effort1305 on
Data Centers are why red states exists.
Maleficent-Ad9010 on
What was that lovely shit called when I so desperately needed a place to live but there was no housing development?! Oh yeah! “NOT IN MY BACKYARD”
CarpeDiem082420 on
Google is planning a huge facility in my area that would draw from the water supply for my community. Google is also being less than forthcoming about its plans for the facility’s future growth, so it’s impossible to project what the actual impact on electricity and water supplies would be. It sounds like a deal with the devil.
Unfortunately, my community doesn’t have a say-so because the proposed project is in a neighboring county.
Fuckspez42 on
Data centers take up large amounts of land, use breathtaking amounts of electricity and water, and employ very very few people after construction. They offer almost nothing to the community they’re located in, so it makes perfect sense that people don’t want them.
ItaJohnson on
Good. I don’t want to subsidize their electric bills especially when they are my competition for jobs.
RevolutionaryCard512 on
We don’t want them!
AdultContemporaneous on
Use the newly stolen oil to power datacenters in Venezuela, obviously. No regulations in our colonies. Y’all gotta start thinking like robber barons.
/s
scottiedagolfmachine on
Good, go build them in the red states where the land is cheap.
They voted for it.
kitkatkorgi on
Hold every elected official accountable. Follow the money. These centers don’t create jobs. They cost tax payers and yet elected officials go along, sometimes in private. Why?
Adorable_Tadpole_726 on
Big Tech is trying to get people to subsidize their capex and opex. Cheap land, cheap power, etc. Some people don’t want that even if you try and bribe local politicians.
hahaokaywhateverdude on
Sometimes NIMBY is good
BaronDoc on
How about this take Epstein Island and build a bunch of data centers on it
SarahArabic2 on
Wait until they get built anyways.
Resident-Escape-3441 on
Good! Those mfrs are causing cancer!
Hypnotoad2020 on
Data centers are basically chemical/coal plant combined and a resource hog. Literally a tax on your water, power, and planet. Literally scum of the corporate industrial complex. Fk em.
Alarmed_Drop7162 on
Fight the Machines.
WinstonChurshill on
Clsk going to print in 2026
Zelda_is_the_Prncess on
They are wanting to build three of these things in our area. It’s ridiculous.
*Irony is alive and kicking: Data Center Watch is using AI to track opposition to AI.*
ripndipp on
When you try and stop it they will cite domestic terrorism because you do not allow billionaires to do what they want
andyboy16 on
The more data center go up the less snow we get in Northern VA…
Pleasant_Bad924 on
“What happens when the AI bubble bursts? What are your contingency plans for the data center when that happens?” A lot of towns are going to give a lot of subsidies for “high-tech jobs” and are going to be left holding a bag of debt when capacity greatly exceeds demand.
imhereforthemeta on
They don’t even provide many jobs post construction so even if you are a fucking idiot who doesn’t care about your electric bill or the climate they offer almost nothing
Curious80123 on
Yes, especially data centers that will cost them money and resources
ChaoticSenior on
Good. These things are a nightmare and will be derelict within a decade if not sooner.
gusto_44 on
Kudos to those communities. Better off without this slop.
PinkyEgg on
They never build these near rich neighborhoods
Somnif on
We shot down an Amazon center here in town. But then the mormon church sold a bunch of farmland they owned on the northside and now THAT is becoming a data center.
Sigh.
rootshirt on
Power to the people
Kevin-W on
It’s a big reason why 2 of the PSC seats in GA flipped to the Dems because we were so tired of Georgia Power constantly raise prices while being handed those data centers on a silver platter.
ChodaRagu on
Chandler, AZ rejected one last month. It was to be the 10th one on a road (Price Rd.) that already had 9 others.
Proud of Chandler City Council for voting it down!
33 Comments
Big technology firms are running into a wall of local resistance as they try to build massive data centers across the country, with residents in small towns and suburbs pushing back against developments they say threaten their communities.
The wave of opposition is spreading fast. Towns and cities nationwide are sharing strategies and information about stopping data center construction plans that keep getting larger to handle growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Companies searching for reliable electricity connections are branching into new areas, but they’re meeting fierce resistance.
Local government officials face tough decisions about whether these facilities, which use enormous amounts of electricity and water, belong in their communities. Many places lack clear rules about data centers, forcing boards to consider special exceptions or draft new laws from scratch.
What used to be quiet town meetings are now packed with upset residents demanding their leaders say no. “Would you want this built in your backyard?” Larry Shank asked officials in East Vincent Township, Pennsylvania, last month. “Because that’s where it’s literally going, is in my backyard.”
Not in my area.. there were protestors but it doesn’t matter. This place is ruby red. Republicans don’t care what their farmer voters want, they know they’ll still vote GOP no matter what.
Data Centers are why red states exists.
What was that lovely shit called when I so desperately needed a place to live but there was no housing development?! Oh yeah! “NOT IN MY BACKYARD”
Google is planning a huge facility in my area that would draw from the water supply for my community. Google is also being less than forthcoming about its plans for the facility’s future growth, so it’s impossible to project what the actual impact on electricity and water supplies would be. It sounds like a deal with the devil.
Unfortunately, my community doesn’t have a say-so because the proposed project is in a neighboring county.
Data centers take up large amounts of land, use breathtaking amounts of electricity and water, and employ very very few people after construction. They offer almost nothing to the community they’re located in, so it makes perfect sense that people don’t want them.
Good. I don’t want to subsidize their electric bills especially when they are my competition for jobs.
We don’t want them!
Use the newly stolen oil to power datacenters in Venezuela, obviously. No regulations in our colonies. Y’all gotta start thinking like robber barons.
/s
Good, go build them in the red states where the land is cheap.
They voted for it.
Hold every elected official accountable. Follow the money. These centers don’t create jobs. They cost tax payers and yet elected officials go along, sometimes in private. Why?
Big Tech is trying to get people to subsidize their capex and opex. Cheap land, cheap power, etc. Some people don’t want that even if you try and bribe local politicians.
Sometimes NIMBY is good
How about this take Epstein Island and build a bunch of data centers on it
Wait until they get built anyways.
Good! Those mfrs are causing cancer!
Data centers are basically chemical/coal plant combined and a resource hog. Literally a tax on your water, power, and planet. Literally scum of the corporate industrial complex. Fk em.
Fight the Machines.
Clsk going to print in 2026
They are wanting to build three of these things in our area. It’s ridiculous.
“…Data Center Watch, run by AI security firm 10a Labs, reports a major increase in community and government [obstacles](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/group-claims-64bn-in-us-data-center-projects-impacted-by-local-opposition-in-last-two-years/) to data center construction. From April through June, the group tracked 20 proposals worth $98 billion across 11 states that got stopped or stalled because of local fights and state-level opposition. That represented two-thirds of all projects being monitored…”
*Irony is alive and kicking: Data Center Watch is using AI to track opposition to AI.*
When you try and stop it they will cite domestic terrorism because you do not allow billionaires to do what they want
The more data center go up the less snow we get in Northern VA…
“What happens when the AI bubble bursts? What are your contingency plans for the data center when that happens?” A lot of towns are going to give a lot of subsidies for “high-tech jobs” and are going to be left holding a bag of debt when capacity greatly exceeds demand.
They don’t even provide many jobs post construction so even if you are a fucking idiot who doesn’t care about your electric bill or the climate they offer almost nothing
Yes, especially data centers that will cost them money and resources
Good. These things are a nightmare and will be derelict within a decade if not sooner.
Kudos to those communities. Better off without this slop.
They never build these near rich neighborhoods
We shot down an Amazon center here in town. But then the mormon church sold a bunch of farmland they owned on the northside and now THAT is becoming a data center.
Sigh.
Power to the people
It’s a big reason why 2 of the PSC seats in GA flipped to the Dems because we were so tired of Georgia Power constantly raise prices while being handed those data centers on a silver platter.
Chandler, AZ rejected one last month. It was to be the 10th one on a road (Price Rd.) that already had 9 others.
Proud of Chandler City Council for voting it down!