While major tech companies are racing to build massive data centers across the U.S., local communities are increasingly fighting back and in some cases winning.
Citing data from Data Center Watch, Bloomberg reports that between April and June, at least 45 data center projects worth nearly $68 billion were blocked or delayed. That’s on top of another 75 projects valued at roughly $130 billion that were disrupted during the first quarter of the year. The figures come from Data Center Watch, a project from 10a Labs, that tracks grassroots opposition to data center development across the country.
Collectively, that means nearly $200 billion worth of proposed data center projects ran into delays or were blocked during the first half of 2026.
These numbers come as tech giants including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google pour hundreds of billions of dollars into the infrastructure needed to train and run their competing AI models. Together, they are expected to spend at least $700 billion this year on AI infrastructure and development, according to CNBC.
But these projects have also attracted growing backlash, especially from residents worried about the strain these massive facilities could place on water supplies, power grids, and their communities.
A Gallup survey conducted in March found that seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including 48% who are strongly opposed.
Even environmental activist Erin Brockovich has joined the opposition, with a new crowdsourced map that collects community concerns about AI data centers.
This backlash is also translating into legislation and other government action.
Data Center Watch reported that more than 300 state-level data center bills were introduced during the first six weeks of 2026, including proposals for statewide moratoriums in 14 states. By the end of the 2026 legislative session, 30 statehouses had introduced legislation, resolutions, or executive actions addressing “data center siting, electricity and water constraints, and infrastructure cost-sharing.”
Local governments have also started imposing their own restrictions. Four communities in New Jersey have either approved bans or pauses on data center projects or are considering them. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis City Council approved in June a six-month pause on large data center projects while the city studies their impact.
And in July, New York became the first state to impose a statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order establishing a one-year pause on certain new facilities.
And it’s not just blue states that have put projects on hold.
Notably, Texas, a traditionally pro-business state, has also started placing some limits on data center development. Gov. Greg Abbott ordered in August the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates most of the state’s power grid, to conduct a comprehensive audit of data center projects currently seeking to connect to the ERCOT grid.
At the federal level, however, President Donald Trump has pushed for AI development, arguing that too many restrictions could put the U.S. at a disadvantage against China.
“There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post this month.
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