U.S. AI infrastructure development is facing increasing local resistance. Data shows that in the second quarter of this year, 45 data center projects were blocked or delayed, involving investments of approximately $68 billion, accounting for more than half of all new large-scale developments during the same period.
Local opposition to data center construction in the United States is expanding from isolated project disputes to more systematic regulatory and policy constraints. According to the latest data from research firm Data Center Watch, between April and June of this year, 45 data center projects in the U.S. were blocked or delayed due to local opposition, involving a total investment of approximately $68 billion.
The latest report from Data Center Watch shows that these 45 affected projects account for more than half of all newly tracked large data center projects by the agency since the second quarter. Although the number and scale of investment are lower than in the first quarter, local government suspensions of approvals, state-level regulations, and community-organized opposition continue to expand.
In the first quarter of this year, 75 data center projects in the United States were blocked or delayed, involving investments of approximately $130 billion. This means that, so far this year, at least 120 projects have experienced delays in their planned development due to local opposition.
843 opposing organizations are spread across 49 states.
Data Center Watch reports that there are currently 843 organizations opposing data center construction across 49 U.S. states, with Hawaii being the only exception. Miquel Vila, the agency’s chief analyst, stated that new local organizations continue to emerge, opposition activities are spreading to more states and local jurisdictions, and the number of signatures on online petitions is steadily increasing.
Local government actions are also shifting from targeting individual projects to proactively revising development regulations. Some communities are pushing for building moratoriums or suspension of approvals before data center developers formally submit applications. According to Data Center Watch, legislatures in approximately 30 states have introduced or enacted regulations addressing issues such as data center siting, electricity use, and water consumption.
This change is increasing the time and uncertainty involved in moving data center projects from land acquisition to final grid connection. Large data centers require not only land and construction permits but also access to large-scale power supply, transmission infrastructure, and, in some areas, water resources. Primary concerns from residents include rising electricity prices, water consumption, noise, declining property values, and reduced green space; if the project requires on-site power generation, it may also trigger opposition to new energy infrastructure.
Protests in some areas have achieved significant online mobilization. According to Data Center Watch, a Change.org petition opposing a data center project in Tennessee garnered over 500,000 signatures in the second quarter, accounting for more than one-third of all related petition signatures on the platform during that period.
This resistance has not halted massive infrastructure investments in the tech industry. Major tech companies such as Amazon (AMZN.O), Meta Platforms (META.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) continue to expand their AI data center capacity. These companies believe that the rapid growth of generative AI demands greater computing infrastructure, and whether the U.S. can build data centers and power supply systems in time will directly impact its competitiveness in the AI industry.
However, data center development is increasingly directly entering local U.S. politics and public utility regulatory systems. A central point of contention is how much of the generation, transmission, and distribution investment costs brought by new projects should be borne by data center operators, and how much of those costs will be passed on to ordinary residents through higher electricity rates.
Electricity costs drive regulatory upgrades
Last Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Ratepayer Protection Act by a vote of 417 in favor and 3 opposed. The bill requires state utility regulators to assess whether large electricity consumers, including data centers, should bear the incremental costs of building new power infrastructure to serve them.
The bill then faced procedural hurdles in the Senate. On Thursday, Senator Martin Heinrich blocked Republican lawmakers’ attempt to advance the bill through unanimous consent, arguing that the current proposal relies too heavily on voluntary actions by state governments and data center developers and lacks sufficient strength.
President Trump continues to clearly support the expansion of data centers, viewing them as critical infrastructure for the United States to maintain its leadership in AI. Last week, he stated that he is discussing the aforementioned power cost bill with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
In Virginia, the largest data center market in the United States, regulatory pressure has begun to translate into concrete policies. Last Friday, Governor Abigail Spanberger announced tighter controls on data centers, including plans to prohibit large projects from using confidentiality agreements, strengthening licensing requirements, and promoting greater use of clean energy by data centers.
Virginia hosts one of the world’s most concentrated clusters of data centers, making local policy changes highly relevant to the entire industry.
Uncertainties in project development are also transforming data center development models. According to The Information, when power will actually be available has become one of the most unpredictable variables in large AI infrastructure projects, with local opposition and regulatory processes further increasing uncertainty around grid connection timelines.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang stated this month that the company is tracking global resources for land, power, and buildings suitable for data centers. Beyond large gigawatt-scale projects, the industry is increasingly focusing on smaller, modular facilities, as well as existing office buildings and industrial sites with pre-existing power connections, to shorten project deployment timelines.