The battle against AI data centers is only getting started.

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How it started
Long before the AI surge began straining local power grids, a small group of activists set the stage for the ongoing conflicts in communities today. In 2015, Apple revealed plans for a $1 billion data center in the quiet town of Athenry, Ireland. This 500-acre facility was intended to support Apple’s services across Europe, including iTunes, iMessage, and Siri. Apple promised outdoor educational spaces, walking trails, and a commitment to replant native trees, all powered by 100% renewable energy. With local government approval and community engagement in mind, Apple likely didn’t foresee the protracted struggle ahead.

The project faced immediate backlash as residents raised concerns with the independent planning board about noise, light pollution, flooding, traffic, and effects on local wildlife. Although the board approved Apple’s facility in 2016, the conflict continued as residents sought a judicial review in the Irish High Court. In 2017, the court ruled in favor of Apple, but the activists behind the appeal aimed to escalate the matter to Ireland’s Supreme Court, prompting Apple to abandon the project in May 2018 after years of uncertainty.

In recent years, data centers for cloud storage and other non-AI functions have become commonplace. However, by 2026, AI data centers are facing heightened scrutiny as they consume energy on a scale comparable to entire states, with some facilities rivaling the size of cities.

How it’s going
Communities are increasingly aware of the risks posed by AI data centers, as residents near these facilities report soaring energy costs, water quality issues, and noise and light pollution, alongside worries about greenhouse gas emissions. The US Energy Information Administration noted that commercial energy demand is set to outstrip residential demand for the first time this year, driven by the AI data center expansion, with expectations for that demand to double by 2027.

In response, many are mobilizing to halt the construction of AI data centers in their neighborhoods, with residents filling town halls nationwide to express their concerns. From January to March alone, protests have successfully blocked or delayed at least 75 projects in the US, valued at $130 billion, according to a study from a research initiative. The number of active opposition groups surged from 396 at the end of 2025 to 833 by the end of Q1 2026, spanning 49 states, with over 235,000 petition signatures collected in just that quarter.

In January, QTS, a data center company owned by Blackstone, scrapped plans for a $12 billion campus in DeForest, Wisconsin, following community protests. A proposed data center on a 580-acre site in Delaware City is also facing hurdles, as local regulators ruled it violates the state’s Coastal Zone Act, which restricts heavy industry along shorelines. In July, opponents successfully blocked a QTS data center in Prince William County, Virginia, which would have covered 2,000 acres in a state already grappling with rising energy costs from data center expansions. Additionally, residents pressured entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary to scale back his ambitious 40,000-acre Project Stratos in Box Elder County, Utah.

With new data center proposals emerging weekly, the battle is far from over.

What happens next
As protests unfold across the US and beyond, a political struggle is brewing in Congress. Data centers are central to the current administration’s strategy to compete with China in the AI sector, prompting an executive order last year to expedite their construction. However, not all lawmakers are aligned with this approach.

With midterm elections approaching, some Republican candidates are distancing themselves from the administration’s pro-data center stance to gain favor with constituents. Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have introduced legislation to pause new AI data center construction until Congress enacts laws to prevent these facilities from driving up utility prices or harming the environment. Concurrently, bipartisan support is growing for the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would require tech giants to cover their own data center energy costs, and the GRID Act, aimed at ensuring data centers utilize energy sources independent of the US electric grid to shield residents from rising utility bills.

Local governments are also stepping up to regulate AI data centers. Reports indicate that states led by both parties have enacted 28 laws concerning these facilities, including measures in Florida to prevent data centers from passing costs onto residents, Idaho’s restrictions on water usage, and Washington state’s removal of tax incentives for operating companies.

Despite these local regulations, the current patchwork of laws is insufficient to curb the rapid expansion, and federal legislation still needs to navigate Congress, leaving many communities to fend for themselves. Just two individuals were able to stall Apple’s plans in Ireland, and now entire towns and cities are banding together to resist the influx of massive data centers, such as Meta’s $27 billion “Hyperion” project in Louisiana, Google’s $10 billion Project Mica in Missouri, SpaceXAI’s $20 billion campus in Mississippi, and the $500 billion Stargate data centers proposed across the US.

By the way
* Wyoming officials recently discovered that a contractor linked to Meta’s data center discharged bacteria-contaminated water into public sewers.
* Factories throughout the Midwest are experiencing rising electricity costs due to nearby data centers.
* Plans to construct 74 gas-fired plants to power data centers across the US could generate as much greenhouse gas pollution as all of Australia, according to environmental watchdogs.

Read this
* A detailed piece discusses how Google aims to replenish more water than it consumes at its data centers.
* You might have heard about proposals to place AI data centers in space, but there’s also a report on how Samsung and Hyundai are considering floating data centers on boats.
* Check out a map detailing the planned data centers across the US.