"Tech companies and developers looking to plunge billions of dollars into ever-bigger data centers to power artificial intelligence and cloud computing are increasingly losing fights in communities where people don't want to live next to them, or even near them. Communities across the United States are reading about - and learning from - each other's battles against data center proposals that are fast multiplying in number and size to meet steep demand as developers branch out in search of faster connections to power sources."
"In many cases, municipal boards are trying to figure out whether energy- and water-hungry data centers fit into their zoning framework. Some have entertained waivers or tried to write new ordinances. Some don't have zoning. But as more people hear about a data center coming to their community, once-sleepy municipal board meetings in farming towns and growing suburbs now feature crowded rooms of angry residents pressuring local officials to reject the requests."
"A growing number of proposals are going down in defeat, sounding alarms across the data center constellation of Big Tech firms, real estate developers, electric utilities, labor unions and more. Andy Cvengros, who helps lead the data center practice at commercial real estate giant JLL, counted seven or eight deals he'd worked on in recent months that saw opponents going door-to-door, handing out shirts or putting signs in people's yards. "It's becoming a huge problem," Cvengros said."
Tech companies and developers are investing billions in larger data centers to power artificial intelligence and cloud computing, expanding into new communities to gain faster connections and power. Communities across the United States are increasingly opposing those projects because of concerns about energy and water consumption, zoning compatibility, and local quality of life. Municipal boards are grappling with whether existing rules apply, issuing waivers, proposing new ordinances, or confronting the absence of zoning altogether. Local activism, crowded meetings, door-to-door campaigns, and yard signs have contributed to multiple project defeats and rising alarm across industry stakeholders.
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