Data centers are large buildings filled with computer chips that power artificial intelligence tools. They are also becoming a political problem in the United States and the United Kingdom.
These buildings use huge amounts of electricity and water. Many local communities say they are paying the price without seeing the benefits.
A Gallup poll from May found that 71% of Americans oppose having a data center built near them. That number is higher than opposition to nuclear power stations.
Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders has called for a pause on new data center construction. He says people are worried about rising electric rates and water use in their towns.
The backlash is not limited to one political party. Republican supporters have shown similar concerns in recent polling.
Opposition Spreads Across Party Lines
In Texas, Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton has campaigned against data centers. He wants to remove their tax breaks and hold operators responsible if AI chatbots harm children's safety.
This marks a shift for Texas, a state that has aggressively courted data center investment, including projects tied to Elon Musk's SpaceX AI operations.
Last year, newly elected Democratic governors in New Jersey and Virginia pointed to rising electricity bills as a reason voters turned against data center expansion. Virginia has the largest cluster of data centers in the world.
Seven tech CEOs signed a pledge with President Trump in March promising not to pass data center costs onto households. The pledge was not legally binding, and it has not stopped local opposition from growing.
UK Faces Similar Tensions
The UK ranks third globally for the number of data centers, just ahead of China. Opposition has appeared in places like Brick Lane in east London and in parts of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire.
In Slough, home to Europe's largest cluster of data centers, more than 500 residents signed a petition asking for a pause on new construction. Some blame the centers for making summer heat worse in the area.
The UK government designated data centers as Critical National Infrastructure last year. Officials say this status helps speed up approvals for new projects.
One Buckinghamshire project was approved by ministers despite local council rejection, then challenged in court by campaigners. The government later acknowledged errors and reversed its approval.
Water is another concern. The trade group Water UK told a parliamentary committee that government AI growth plans made no mention of water supply.
The UK aims to triple its data center capacity by 2030, reaching 6 gigawatts. That is still about 20 times smaller than the scale of US ambitions.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has publicly defended data centers as central to reindustrializing the US economy. Other tech leaders have been quieter on the topic.
Part of the tension comes from job numbers. Data centers require heavy construction work but only a small permanent staff once built, often just a few dozen workers per site.
With US midterm elections approaching in November, control of Congress could hinge partly on how voters in affected communities respond to rising energy bills and local disruption.
