Data center backlash becomes a midterm election issue, Brookings scholar says
Voters in more than 40 cities and towns across eight states will decide ballot measures on data center bans and moratoriums, as residents weigh noise, water and power costs.
At a glance
- Voters in more than 40 cities and towns across eight states will decide ballot measures on data center bans and moratoriums.
- Brookings senior fellow Darrell West says 70% of Americans now have serious reservations about data centers.
- West says local officials are winning tougher terms because they control the construction permits companies need.
A backlash against the giant data centers built to power artificial intelligence has grown into a national political story, with voters in more than 40 cities and towns across eight states set to decide ballot measures on data center bans, moratoriums and requirements that residents get a vote before one is built. Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, discussed the shift on NPR's Fresh Air with host Tonya Mosley.
Two parties, one attack
West pointed to campaign ads making nearly identical attacks from opposite parties. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Republican Senator Jon Husted, says in an ad that Husted spent years aggressively recruiting data centers, cutting tax deals and fast-tracking approvals while residents watch their electricity bills rise. In Wisconsin, Republican Tom Tiffany, running for governor against Democrat David Crowley, calls his rival "Data Center David" and says Crowley would make the state an AI and data hub at the expense of taxpayers and local communities.
West said that a year ago politicians of both parties were competing to attract those economic development dollars. Now, he said, whoever has supported data centers and tax breaks for them in the past is finding that position used against them at the polls.
Why the mood changed
West said about 70% of Americans now say they have serious reservations about data centers, and a recent survey found 50% did not want to live next to one. He dates that shift to the past six to nine months.
The new AI facilities are far larger than older data centers, he said, often filling the space of two or three football fields or more. Neighbours complain about noise, and residents also worry about electricity demand, water use and land, he added. Inside, West said, the buildings hold rows of computing equipment known as file servers, which process everything from online shopping to banking transactions.
West said rising electric rates in some states are not all due to data centers, pointing to inflation, the war in Iran and tariffs as other factors, but that people see a connection anyway.
Local officials bargain harder
A year ago, West said, mayors of struggling rural towns felt they had little leverage and offered tax breaks and infrastructure to attract the companies. As public opinion has turned, local officials are now demanding that firms pay for environmental problems, cover the energy needs of their facilities and explain how they will handle water issues.
West and his co-author Nicol Turner Lee have argued in a Brookings paper that local officials should negotiate formal community benefit agreements laying out costs, benefits and who pays for problems. He cited Loudoun County, Virginia, which has more data centers than any other part of America, where officials now seek payment for development rights, knowing a major facility cannot be built without a local construction permit.
West said the data center fight is also about the power of tech companies worth more than $1 trillion, and is now tied to wider concerns about AI's impact.
Source: NPR News.
Questions and answers
- Why are communities pushing back against AI data centers?
- Residents complain about noise, electricity costs, water and land use, and the size of the new AI facilities. Brookings senior fellow Darrell West says 70% of Americans now have serious reservations about them.
- What are the midterm ballot measures on data centers?
- Voters in more than 40 cities and towns across eight states will decide on data center bans, moratoriums and requirements that residents get a vote before a data center is built.
- What is a community benefit agreement?
- It is a formal negotiation between local officials and a tech company laying out the costs and benefits of a data center and who pays for problems such as environmental or water issues, per West's Brookings paper.
