At least 16 data center projects, worth a combined $64 billion, have been blocked or delayed as local opposition mounts to the developments, according to a new study.
Research collected by Data Center Watch shows that residents and politicians across seven states have stopped or stalled the data center projects.
In Arizona’s West Valley, development company Tract withdrew plans for a $14 billion project after city officials declined to approve required rezoning. Tract eventually announced a similar project in Buckeye, Ariz., where development is proceeding.
In Peculiar, Mo., and Chesterton, Ind., residents and local officials also blocked data center developments worth billions.
In total, the study found that six data center developments have been fully blocked since May 2024. The backlash has also delayed 10 other data centers, including two from Amazon.
Nine of the documented data center blockages and delays have occurred in Virginia, the world’s unofficial data center capital, according to the research firm.
The study’s authors also found growing bipartisan aversion to the behemoth data center projects. About 55 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of Democrats in districts with large data center projects have taken public positions against the developments, per the study.
“This cross-party resistance defies expectations and marks a rare area of bipartisan alignment in infrastructure politics,” the authors wrote.
The report also found that data centers were becoming an intensifying issue in local politics. As energy costs soar and affordability takes center stage, it’s likely more candidates and elected officials will take sides on the projects.
Data centers can raise energy prices in surrounding residential areas — a concern the study’s authors found often mobilized locals to speak up about the construction. Residents and politicians also cited potential noise pollution and the strain on local resources when advocating against center development.
The researchers said they believe the pushback on data center development in Virginia provides a blueprint for where the country is headed.
“The future looks like Virginia,” they wrote, adding, “Virginia is now the focal point for community opposition to data centers in the United States, with 42 activist groups campaigning to slow, stop, or further regulate data center development.”
The authors also noted that candidates for all levels of government within the state were increasingly taking stances on data centers, and that measures to curtail their development have been proposed at the local and state level.
“As data center development accelerates elsewhere in the country, local pushback on data centers is likely to follow the same pattern seen in Virginia,” they added.