A small Tennessee town decided it did not want to wait for a fight over data centers to arrive at its doorstep.
Woodbury moved to block the facilities before any developer even proposed one, while Warren County paused new projects as communities across the state weighed promises of AI-era growth against concerns about water, electricity, and quality of life.
What's happening?
Data centers are now barred within Woodbury town limits after council members approved a prohibition, WKRN News 2 reported. The town, which has fewer than 3,000 residents, is about 50 miles southeast of Nashville.
Mayor Stan Hollandsworth said it chose to act before any proposal arrived, describing the move as a way to stay ahead of the issue.
"My best interest is what's best for the town and the people of Woodbury. This is a small, tight-knit community," Hollandsworth said.
Among the issues he pointed to were the amount of land and water such facilities can require, Woodbury's limited room to spare, and the relatively small number of long-term jobs these projects usually provide.
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Tennessee already has over 60 data centers, and there are more than 4,000 active centers across the United States. Asad Ramzanali, director of AI and technology policy at Vanderbilt University, told News 2 there were "about 3,000 under construction or planned."
In neighboring Warren County, the outlet said officials in early June approved an 18-month moratorium on new data center proposals. The freeze has already affected a roughly 100,000-square-foot facility proposed in McMinnville. The developer, Alex Hixson, said during a Facebook livestream that the project would generate $2.1 million per year in payroll for 23 jobs.
Why does it matter?
Data centers are increasingly at the center of local disputes because they can use enormous amounts of electricity and water but create fewer permanent jobs than developers claim.
"It doesn't feel fair. And so there's a fundamental social fairness question of, 'What are we as a community getting out of this? Why do we want that?'" Ramzanali told News 2. "And so then the costs get really amplified when it's not just a noisy building [or high water/energy usages]."
The debate is closely tied to artificial intelligence since many data centers are built to handle the computing demand created by AI tools.
AI could improve daily life in meaningful ways, but that potential comes with serious concerns, including heavy use of power and water, cybersecurity risks, and the possibility that families face higher utility bills if demand on the grid rises.
Pressure from that growth is already showing up in the Tennessee Valley Authority system. News 2 reported that data centers make up about 18% of TVA's total power load.
What's being done?
Some Tennessee communities are trying to buy time.
Local leaders have largely relied on moratoriums and zoning limits to slow projects while they examine potential impacts. News 2 reported that 70-plus such embargoes were active across the country.
Woodbury is just one case. Gallatin, Wilson County, and Davidson County were also weighing similar steps. Sumner County told News 2 that it already had strict zoning rules in place to prevent unexpected proposals.
In a statement, TVA said it was working with 153 local power companies to "meet fast-growing demand … while keeping power affordable and reliable." The agency noted it would detail its data center approach at its August board meeting, per News 2.
As these projects spread, decisions made in small towns could help determine who benefits from AI growth — and who bears the costs.
"When we started getting the information about these data centers and started doing the research, we decided it would be best to be proactive instead of reactive," Hollandsworth said, according to News 2.
Ramzanali added: "The people should be able to voice their opinion and say, 'I don't want this thing.'"
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