Local governments limiting data center growth as public opposition mounts

By EPN Staff

In December 2025, several planned data center projects were rejected or curbed by city councils and other local governments in response to rising opposition among residents. 

A record number of projects were rejected or delayed in 2025 as companies experienced backlash over energy use and rising energy prices, noise, water consumption and other concerns. 

Data center projects worth $162 billion have been delayed or altogether blocked since 2023, according to Data Center Watch, a research project run by 10a Labs. Opposition is increasing. An estimated $98 billion in projects were blocked or delayed in the second quarter of 2025 alone.  

In some cases, blocked projects were moved to other locations or downsized to gain approval, another analysis by Data Center Dynamics found.

Why it matters

Data Center Watch reports that 142 activist groups are active in 28 states and are targeting large data center projects of at least 50 megawatts.  Bipartisan opposition has mounted over concerns about energy consumption, rising energy prices, business subsidies, noise, water use, air quality, light pollution, electric grid reliability and low expected job creation. 

Fourth quarter rejections have not been tabulated; however, in mid-December alone: 

• The Chandler, Arizona, city council unanimously rejected a proposal by New York developer Active Infrastructure for another artificial intelligence data center and business complex campus.
• The Board of Supervisors in Arizona’s Maricopa County voted to limit data center construction to areas zoned for general and heavy industrial uses.
• In Lewiston, Maine, the city council scrapped a plan for an 85,000 square foot $300 million AI data center in an old mill. 
• In DeKalb County, Georgia, commissioners voted to extend a moratorium on the development or growth of data centers for another six months in response to resident opposition. 

However, massive tech companies like Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Oracle are investing billions to build data centers for cloud computing, data storage and AI. Capital outlays are expected to grow to $7 trillion in by 2030, a report by McKinsey & Co found. 

To date, there are 4,303 data centers in the U.S., according to one database. States with the most data centers are Virginia (668), Texas (429) and California (326).  South Dakota (5), Alaska (4) and Vermont (3) have the fewest. 

The bigger picture

Data center impacts became an election issue in Virginia, the state with the highest concentration of data centers, where Democrat Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger promised to hold large electricity users accountable and to keep energy affordable, as reported by the Investors' Business Daily, which has tracked growing opposition in local communities and among their representatives. 

On Dec.11, President Donald Trump signed “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence” Executive Order (EO) prohibiting states from creating their own regulations on AI, stating that differing state laws would encumber innovation. The EO, however, would not impact state and local laws governing “AI compute and data center infrastructure, other than generally applicable permitting reforms.”

The EO establishes an AI Litigation Task Force to sue states over such state regulations and threatens to withhold funding from states that do not comply. An effort to preempt state laws fizzled in Congress because of opposition by lawmakers of both parties. Several state officials oppose the preemption of state law, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, who is threatening to turn to legal action against it.