Data center backlash is spreading, and local leaders are already paying at the ballot box

Opposition to data centers is no longer confined to a small number of local disputes. 

Across the United States, residents are turning concerns over noise, land use, water demand, and tax breaks into organized political pressure — and in some cases, election consequences.

What happened?

The fight over data centers is starting to influence more than zoning decisions. Time reported that in June alone, Holyoke, Massachusetts; Monterey Park, California; and Seattle enacted bans, a sign that resistance is working.

Festus, Missouri, offers an early example of the political risks. Residents removed half of the city council after members backed a $6 billion data center proposal.

Public opinion appears to align with that anger. Time cited a Gallup survey from May showing that 71% of Americans would not want a data center built in their community.

In Arizona, the debate has turned into a statewide fight. After a major lobbying campaign, Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a budget that pauses tax incentives for data centers for three years.

Alejandra Gomez, executive director of the nonprofit LUCHA, told Time that grassroots organizing played a decisive role.

"We were able to apply pressure with members, community stakeholders, and organized labor: a surround sound of being in the neighborhoods, canvassing, having dinners, doing press conferences, being in the media," Gomez said.

Why does it matter?

For many communities, these fights are about far more than a single building. Data centers can use enormous amounts of electricity and, in some places, water, while nearby residents worry they may see little direct benefit in return — especially when public subsidies are part of the deal.

Bans and moratoriums can give cities time to re-evaluate zoning rules, protect limited resources, and ensure new development actually benefits nearby residents.

Still, opponents of blanket bans argue that such measures could cost cities jobs, tax revenue, and the opportunity to compete in the expanding AI economy.

Former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who co-chairs the AI Infrastructure Coalition, told Time by email, "What this tax-exemption moratorium actually does is tell the companies delivering real economic growth to our communities that Arizona is closed for business."

What are people saying?

The movement is being driven by ordinary residents who feel shut out of decisions that could have major effects on their communities.

Gomez said that "all of the efforts of this significant lobby came crumbling down because Arizonans have been dialed into this fight and have not stopped speaking out against the extraction of these data centers."

The strength of local opposition was also evident in El Paso, Texas. Time reported that a bid to cancel tax incentives for a Meta data center lost on a 5-3 vote after nearly 180 residents spoke across more than eight hours of public comment.

While the proposal ultimately failed, Josh Acevedo, the El Paso city council member who introduced the measure, said, "It is unlike anything I've ever seen in my community before, to see people that showed up that had no idea where City Hall was. Some of them may have not even voted before. But they're concerned about this issue."

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