Data & Society Report Finds 60% of Americans Back Limits on New Data Centers
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 22
Data & Society Report Finds 60% of Americans Back Limits on New Data Centers
3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 22
Summary
More than 60% of Americans favor limiting new data centers, and a new Data & Society report says opposition is being driven less by abstract AI fears than by local costs, distrust and lived experience.
Eighteen months of fieldwork and interviews with 44 Pennsylvanians found residents worry about higher power bills, lower property values, water use, emissions and opaque tactics such as non-disclosure agreements with local officials.
$68 billion of data center projects were disrupted by local opponents in the second quarter of 2026, underscoring how resistance is colliding with AI companies' trillion-dollar buildout plans.
Pennsylvania captures that shift: after touting $90 billion in AI and data center investment in 2025, Governor Josh Shapiro later imposed new project requirements and removed data centers from a regulatory fast-track.
The report says support still comes from trade unions seeking construction jobs, but the broader opposition has become 'post-partisan'—rooted in industrial trauma and a widening trust gap with AI companies.