The US has more data centres than anywhere else in the world despite the unpopularity of the sites that power artificial intelligence.
In the last decade amid the AI boom, construction of data centres around the world, and specifically in the US, has reached a breakneck pace. It is that pace, along with environmental worries, construction noise and electricity bill concerns, that have caused them to become so controversial.
Although they've existed for quite some time, the unprecedented investment in AI, coupled with the rapid adoption of the technology, started to put data centres into focus towards the end of Joe Biden's presidency.
Data centre anger, however, reached a crescendo during US President Donald Trump's second term.
By any objective standard, Mr Trump is a polarising character.
That polarisation, mixed with falling earnings, rising grocery and fuel prices, and the decision to attack Iran, has coloured the data centre debate and created a stigma.
Against this backdrop, the US is about to vote in the midterm elections, where most polls show that affordability is a priority, but data centre anger and resentment towards Big Tech is also a factor.
Yet although the current climate has caused local governments to try to curtail construction, the imposing buildings are not going anywhere.
According to Cleanview, a self-described “market intelligence company tracking US power infrastructure and data centre development”, as well as the US Census Bureau, there are currently 1,393 operational centres in the US, with about 2,800 in development.
Although the exact number varies depending on the source, Virginia currently has more data centres than any other state, with between 600 and 700.
In Texas, developers are planning increasingly large sites to meet growing demand for computing power. Rather than building hundreds of smaller data centres, some developers are betting on a smaller number of much larger super centres, capable of delivering more computing capacity from a single site.
But this expansion comes as questions grow over how much computing power AI will ultimately need. Some researchers and industry figures argue that AI models and agents will become more efficient over time, requiring less computing power to perform the same tasks. Advances in model design, specialised chips and software could reduce the amount of infrastructure needed to run AI applications. At the same time, greater efficiency could make AI cheaper to use, encouraging wider adoption and drive up overall demand for computing power. This creates uncertainty over how much of the planned capacity will eventually be needed, and whether the industry is building infrastructure for sustained demand or betting on growth that may not materialise.
This assumes, however, that the status quo of data centre development will continue unchallenged.
Big Tech companies and data centre operators have, in many respects, already bet that the AI boom will continue, but those bets may be colliding with a political reckoning.
Pennsylvania, for example, currently has 328 megawatts of operational data centre capacity and plans for 23.1GW, about 70 times its existing base.
If community concerns about data centres continue and the political winds keep shifting with public officials being more hostile towards the facilities, the gap between current capacity and proposed development will remain just that, a gap. It's hardly a guarantee of future growth.
Throughout the US, Cleanview's data centre tracker shows that there have already been at least 64 data centre projects cancelled in the US, and there's no reason to think it will stop there.
In the days before AI hostility was so prevalent, data centre construction plans amounted to 416.7 gigawatts of data centre capacity in the US, that's 6.4 times the 64.8GW currently in operation, that's a lofty buildout to say the least, but for reasons already mentioned it won't be easy to achieve.
Why so much data centre angst?
Last week in Washington, the Brookings Institution think tank hosted a packed-house panel discussion, AI on the ballot: Data centres and the 2026 midterms.
Even a year ago, such a well-attended event may have been less likely, highlighting how much has changed amid the tide of AI worries and increasingly angry reactions to data centres.
“Believe it or not this panel could have been bigger,” Valerie Wirtschafter said Brookings scholar and event moderator, referring to the four analysts and experts on stage, in addition to an elected official, Democratic Representative James Himes who appeared earlier for a one-on-one discussion.
“We could have filled another panel,” she added, lamenting that other political and technology experts wanted to attend but weren't able to.
Anthony Pipa, a senior Brookings fellow who has been analysing and reporting on data centre development in West Virginia, said there's an overarching theme causing so much resentment towards data centres.
“A lack of transparency,” he said, pointing out in many of the recent data centre negotiations, later followed by data centre construction announcements, there was very little engagement with the communities where the facilities will be built.
“They're asking for confidentiality agreements, for nondisclosure agreements,” Mr Pipa explained, referring to technology companies that he said were often trying to see through a frictionless development process.
He also said that despite private companies repeatedly dismissing data centre concerns as being based on hysteria, there are legitimate worries about noise and environmental impacts.
Those worries, he added, are made worse and give rise to anger because of data centre developers simply turning a blind eye.
Even if there are economic benefits, Mr Pipa said that they may not reach the people who are disproportionately impacted by the sudden construction and inconveniences.
"There's water concerns, there's emissions, there could be run-off in parts of West Virginia, and there's also the issue of backup diesel generators for the data centres that would be close to elementary schools, those are all real concerns,” he explained.
Mark Muro, a senior technology fellow at Brookings, described this summer as a “summer of backlash” where concerns about eroding local community rights placed data centres as public enemy No. 1
The secrecy and even perception of back-room deals which lead to expedited data centre construction in some parts of the country, he explained, touched a bipartisan nerve.
“This goes to a very deep sense of actual community and where people live, and it also touches upon the economic fabric of places,” he said, not mincing words about why there's so many hot tempers about technology companies.
“The data centre mutiny clearly does reflect specific local complaints of a lot of pissed off people in America right now, in real places with real concerns,” Mr Muro said.
During the discussion at Brookings, almost all the panelists did acknowledge, however, that data centres do bring economic benefits, though results have often varied and not necessarily guaranteed.
Data centre benefits
Though he didn't speak at the Brookings event, Javier Palomarez, president and chief executive of the US Hispanic Business Council, says that data centre economic benefits are nothing to scoff at, but that the industry has had a habit of rubbing communities the wrong way with aggressive and sometimes deceptive tactics.
On top of that, he explained, the industry hasn't done a good job of explaining possible upsides.
“Construction can generate hundreds of well-paying, if temporary, jobs for electricians and other building trade workers, and the tax benefits can be substantial,” he said, adding that in Loudon County, Virginia, data centres accounted for 38 per cent of the government's general fund revenue.
“That revenue helps fund schools, roads and emergency services while reducing pressure on residential taxpayers … it's the case leaders need to bring to Americans.”
Mr Palomarez said that government revenue aside, the overall economic benefits from data centres have been blunted by the electricity they use.
“Those [data centre] benefits won’t mean much to someone worried about paying next month’s electric bill,” he said.
After the November 3 elections, Mr Palomarez said there will be plenty of time for technology companies and data centre developers to win hearts and minds.
“There is room to earn public support, but people need more than a promise that the benefits will eventually reach them,” he said.
“They need to know they won’t be left with the bill.”
