The Data Center Resistance Has Arrived

On Election Day, Peter Hubbard was 1 of 2 Democratic candidates who took a decisive—and surprising—victory successful Georgia. Hubbard was elected to the Georgia Public Service Commission, the assemblage that regulates the state’s electrical utility. It’s the archetypal clip Democrats person taken statewide seats successful Georgia successful astir 2 decades.

Residents person complained for years astir a bid of complaint hikes from the PSC. But during Hubbard’s campaigning, helium noticed different taxable coming up again and again with his aboriginal constituents.

“The fig 1 contented was affordability,” helium says. “But a precise adjacent 2nd was information centers and the interest astir them conscionable sucking up the water, the electricity, the land—and not truly paying immoderate taxes.”

Georgia has go a blistery spot for information halfway improvement implicit the past fewer years: Some probe indicates it’s 1 of the fastest-growing markets for information halfway improvement successful the state (thanks, successful part, to immoderate generous taxation breaks). It’s besides present a nexus for organizing against those aforesaid information centers. Community absorption to information centers, a caller study finds, is connected the emergence crossed the country. And reddish states, including Georgia and Indiana, are starring this question of bipartisan opposition.

The caller study was released by Data Center Watch, a task tally by AI information institution 10a Labs that tracks assemblage absorption to information centers crossed the country. The institution has been keeping eyes connected this taxable since 2023, and released its archetypal nationalist findings earlier this year. (While 10a Labs does connection hazard investigation for AI companies, study writer Miquel Vila says that the Data Center Watch task is abstracted from the company’s main work, and is not paid for by immoderate clients.) But this week’s study finds that the tide has turned sharply successful the months since the group’s archetypal nationalist output. The 2nd 4th of this year, the caller study finds, represented “a crisp escalation” successful information halfway absorption crossed the country.

Data Center Watch’s archetypal study covered a play from May 2024 to March of 2025; successful that period, it found, section absorption had blocked oregon delayed a full of $64 cardinal successful information halfway projects (six projects were blocked entirely, portion 10 were delayed). But Data Center Watch’s caller study recovered that absorption blocked oregon delayed $98 cardinal successful projects from March to June of 2025 alone—eight projects, including 2 successful Indiana and Kentucky, were blocked successful those 3 months, portion 9 were delayed. One of those projects, a $17 cardinal improvement successful the Atlanta suburbs, was enactment connected clasp successful May aft the region imposed a 180-day moratorium connected information halfway development, pursuing important pushback from section residents.

There are immoderate “methodological caveats” to the caller Data Center Watch report, Vila acknowledges. The caller report, which is based solely connected nationalist documents including media reports, ineligible filings, and societal media, covers a play of clip erstwhile information halfway operation successful the US exploded: Industry website ConstructConnect estimates that US spending connected information operation by August of this twelvemonth exceeded each spending successful 2024. More information halfway projects whitethorn simply mean much communities are reacting to ones coming to their backyards; much media attraction connected these projects besides whitethorn foodstuff up opposition. But the crisp summation successful different information observed by Data Center Watch betwixt March and June—including astir 50,000 signatures connected petitions opposing circumstantial information centers crossed the state successful that clip period—indicates that determination has been “a turning point” successful the issue, Vila says.

“Before, [resistance] was thing that could happen,” helium says. “Now it seems that it’s precise apt that erstwhile you are processing [a information center], perchance idiosyncratic is going to organize.”

Hubbard, who won the Georgia PSC seat, isn’t the lone governmental campaigner who has had absorption to information centers play a relation successful their race, nor is Georgia the lone battleground. In Virginia, the country’s information halfway hub, governor-elect Abigail Spanberger said she wanted to person information centers “pay their ain way” for power. Last week, clime journalism tract Heatmap profiled John McAuliff, a erstwhile Biden clime advisor who won his predetermination based successful ample portion connected absorption to information centers. Separate polling from Heatmap, besides released past week, shows that little than fractional of Americans from each governmental persuasions would enactment a information center.

Josh Thomas is simply a Virginia authorities delegate from Loudoun County, which, the region claims, has the highest attraction of information centers successful the world. He introduced aggregate bills during the past legislative league to rein successful information centers successful Virginia, and information halfway issues figured prominently successful his astir caller election. (His opponent, a Republican, alleged that Thomas did not spell acold capable successful trying to halt information halfway sprawl.)

Thomas, who won reelection past week, points to the section pushback against the projected Prince William Digital Gateway, which would enactment much than 30 information centers connected the borderline of a nationalist reserve located successful the northbound of the state. A radical of homeowners person challenged the task successful court, and a justice voided zoning successful August, which temporarily halted construction.

“The small feline yet won, which seldom happens successful immoderate industry, fto unsocial wherever the Magnificent Ten play,” helium says, referring to the US’s biggest tech companies. “I deliberation that rallied radical politically successful Virginia.”

Thomas, similar Hubbard, besides says helium sees a batch of his constituents acrophobic astir however information centers volition impact their energy bill. “People are conscionable a batch much cost-conscious,” helium says. Energy bills, Thomas says “are thing that was kept comparatively static for a fig of years.” But successful Virginia, energy load from information centers are helping to thrust up inferior bills, Thomas says.

Both Thomas and Hubbard are Democrats, but absorption to information centers, the Data Center Watch study stresses, has been thoroughly bipartisan. And immoderate nationalist Republican politicians, including Sen. Josh Hawley, Rep. Thomas Massie, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, person begun to talk retired against them.

“People you person got to wage adjacent attraction to your section city, county, and authorities approvals of information centers and request your h2o and vigor bills beryllium protected!!!” Greene, who has criticized information halfway enlargement for months, posted connected X connected November 7.

Big tech companies person to day made fewer nationalist statements astir pushback to information halfway projects. While some, similar Meta, supply public-facing accusation connected their information centers, others successful the manufacture thin heavy connected nondisclosure agreements erstwhile gathering caller information centers, providing small to nary accusation to communities astir these projects—including which tech companies whitethorn beryllium involved.

In a statement, Dan Diorio, the vice president of authorities argumentation for the Data Center Coalition, a starring manufacture group, said that the manufacture is continuing to spot “significant interest” from communities crossed the state successful hosting information centers and that members are committed to “continued assemblage engagement and stakeholder education,” arsenic good arsenic “being liable and responsive neighbors successful the communities wherever they operate.”

“The US information halfway manufacture provides important benefits to section communities—creating hundreds of thousands of high-wage jobs crossed the nation, providing billions of dollars successful economical investment, and generating important local, state, and national taxation gross that helps money schools, transportation, nationalist safety, and different assemblage priorities,” Diorio said. “All told, US information centers supported 4.7 cardinal jobs and contributed $162 cardinal successful federal, state, and section taxes successful 2023.”

The oversea alteration successful nationalist sentiment whitethorn not beryllium capable to stem the marketplace enthusiasm for information halfway build-out. While $93 cardinal successful delayed and blocked investments is surely not a tiny number, it’s chump alteration compared to the monolithic influx of currency from large tech companies that is, analysts say, presently driving the US economy. (Meta unsocial said past week that it volition put $600 cardinal into AI infrastructure, including information centers, implicit the adjacent 3 years.) And adjacent though immoderate communities are successfully pushing backmost against information centers, those wins tin beryllium temporary. The ruling connected the Prince William Digital Gateway, for instance, was stayed successful October, allowing operation to resume arsenic the lawsuit moves towards proceedings adjacent year.

Still, Thomas has large plans for information halfway betterment successful Virginia’s adjacent legislative session, including reintroducing a betterment measure of his that passed the legislature successful May but was vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“I person Republicans and Democrats coming to maine saying, ‘How tin we assistance with this issue? My constituents are talking astir it similar they ne'er person before,’” helium says. “Our conjugation of information halfway reform-minded legislators has conscionable grown to a precise ample number.”