Everyone can find a reason to dislike data center construction

> >[Computer companies] are convinced that scaling up computation is the path to improving [computation], and they’ve put their money where their mouths are, to the tune of trillions of dollars of planned data center projects. > > >The rest of us? Surveys of public opinion say that more than 60% of Americans favor limiting new data centers, particularly in their communities. And the longest-running surveys show that sentiment is growing fast. Data center projects worth $68 billion were disrupted by local opponents in the second quarter of 2026, according to the trackers at Data Center Watch. > > >… > > >In spite of the boosterism, resistance has grown, and in unlikely ways. The researchers said they were surprised by the diversity of the opposition to these projects, calling it not bipartisan but post-partisan. > > >“We don’t want to romanticize that everyone is having this kumbaya moment, [but data centers are] forcing people to be in conversation together about futures that they want and presents that they want … these fights are incredibly organic,” Woluchem said, pointing to a variety of sources of opposition: Sometimes it is simply folks who are against development — classic NIMBYs — but the coalition grows from there. There are people who dislike “AI” as a technology and the corporate interests behind it, environmental groups concerned about water usage and energy-related emissions, and those with more nebulous concerns about public health. > > >What’s striking, though, is how often material interests are top of mind. People are concerned that data center electrical usage will affect their own power bills, worried that data centers will drive down property values, or are upset by the playbook that data center builders use to get their way — tactics such as asking local officials to sign non-disclosure agreements. > > >“There is a significant group of people who are just really clued into their town hall meetings and might notice that wow, a representative from Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, showed up here, or a data center developer showed up at my community meeting… that’s a little odd,” Woluchem notes. “And my council person, who I have previously had a relationship with, now won’t talk to me about this sort of thing.”