Data center construction in the United States has faced significant opposition, with protests blocking or delaying at least 75 projects worth about $130 billion from January through March, according to Data Center Watch. This marks the highest number of blocked or delayed projects in a three-month period since the group began tracking in 2023. Researchers noted that this is not a cyclical spike but a structural shift, as communities have adopted an opposition playbook, legislative sessions have introduced regulatory uncertainty, and the number of active opposition groups has more than doubled to 833 across 49 states.
Sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom has observed the growing momentum behind data center protests, particularly in North Carolina. She noted that people are crossing political divides to oppose local construction projects and are passionate enough to attend political education sessions about water rights, land use, and thermodynamics. McMillan Cottom explained that people are not just educating themselves to keep noisy factories from driving up utility costs, threatening public health, or wasting local resources; some are experiencing what it's like to work with their neighbors to overcome adversity through political will.
Data Center Watch reported that the record of $130 billion in blocked or delayed data centers in early 2026 is close to matching the total value of projects recorded for all of 2025, about $156 billion. Researchers suggested that the back half of 2025 marked a turning point as data center opposition emerged as a national-level narrative, reshaping elections, regulation, and site viability nationwide. For officials hoping to quickly build data centers to propel America’s AI ambitions, facing the mounting opposition as the playbook has come together has been tough.
Source: arstechnica
