There was a time when most Americans had little to no knowledge about their local data center. Long the invisible but critical backbone of the internet, server farms have rarely been a point of interest for folks outside of the tech industry, let alone an issue of particularly captivating political resonance.<\/p>\n
Well, as of 2025, it would appear those days are officially over. <\/p>\n
Over the past 12 months, data centers have inspired protests in dozens of states, as regional activists have sought to combat America\u2019s ever-increasing compute buildup. Data Center Watch, an organization tracking anti-data center activism, writes that<\/a> there are currently 142 different activist groups across 24 states that are organizing against data center developments.<\/p>\n Activists have a variety of concerns: the environmental<\/a> and potential health impacts<\/a> of these projects, the controversial ways<\/a> in which AI is being used, and, most importantly, the fact that so many new additions to America\u2019s power grid may be driving up local electricity bills<\/a>.<\/p>\n Such a sudden populist uprising appears to be a natural response to an industry that has grown so quickly that it\u2019s now showing up in people\u2019s backyards. Indeed, as the AI industry has swelled to dizzying heights, so, too, has the cloud computing business. Recent U.S. Census Bureau data shows that<\/a>, since 2021, construction spending on data centers has skyrocketed a stunning 331%. Spending on these projects totals in the hundreds of billions of dollars. So many new data centers have been proposed in recent months that many experts believe that a majority of them will not \u2014 and, indeed, could not possibly<\/a> \u2014 be built.<\/p>\n This buildout shows no signs of slowing down in the meantime. Major tech giants \u2014 including Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon \u2014 have all announced<\/a> significant capital expenditure projections for the new year, a majority of which will likely go toward such projects.<\/p>\n New AI infrastructure isn\u2019t just being pushed by Silicon Valley but by Washington, D.C., where the Trump administration has made artificial intelligence a central plank of its agenda. The Stargate Project, announced<\/a> in January, set the stage for 2025\u2019s massive AI infrastructure buildout by heralding a supposed<\/a> \u201cre-industrialization of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco In the process of scaling itself exponentially, an industry that once had little public exposure has suddenly been thrust into the limelight \u2014 and is now suffering backlash. Danny Cendejas, an activist with the nonprofit MediaJustice, has been personally involved in a number of actions against data centers, including a protest that took place in Memphis, Tennessee, earlier this year, where locals came out to decry the expansion of Colossus<\/a>, a project from Elon Musk\u2019s startup, xAI.<\/p>\n Cendejas told TechCrunch that he meets new people every week who express interest in organizing against a data center in their community. \u201cI don\u2019t think this is going to stop anytime soon,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to keep building, and we\u2019re going to see more wins \u2014 more projects are going to be stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n Evidence in support of Cendejas\u2019 assessment is everywhere you look. Across the country, communities have reacted to newly announced server farms in much the same way the average person might react to the presence of a highly contagious plague. In Michigan, for instance, where developers are currently eyeing 16 different locations<\/a> for potential data center construction, protesters recently descended upon the state\u2019s capitol, saying things like<\/a>: \u201cMichiganders do not want data centers in our yards, in our communities.\u201d Meanwhile, in Wisconsin \u2014 another development hot spot \u2014 angry locals appear to have recently dissuaded Microsoft<\/a> from using their town as a headquarters for a new 244-acre data center. In Southern California, the tiny city of Imperial Valley recently filed a lawsuit<\/a> to overturn its county\u2019s approval of a data center project, expressing environmental concerns as the rationale.<\/p>\n The discontent surrounding these projects has gotten so intense that politicians believe it could make or break particular candidates at the ballot box. In November, it was reported that rising electricity costs \u2014 which many believe are being driven by the AI boom \u2014 could become a critical issue<\/a> that determines the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole connection to everybody\u2019s energy bills going up \u2014 I think that\u2019s what\u2019s really made this an issue that is so stark for people,\u201d Cendejas told TechCrunch. \u201cSo many of us are struggling month to month. Meanwhile, there\u2019s this huge expansion of data centers\u2026[People are wondering] Where is all that money coming from? How are our local governments giving away subsidies and public funds to incentivize these projects, when there\u2019s so much need in our communities?\u201d<\/p>\n In some cases, protests appear to be working and even halting (if only temporarily) planned developments. Data Center Watch claims that<\/a> some $64 billion worth of developments have been blocked or delayed as the result of grassroots opposition. Cendejas is certainly a believer in the idea that organized action can halt companies in their tracks. \u201cAll this public pressure is working,\u201d he said, noting that he could sense a \u201cvery palpable anger\u201d around the issue.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n