Americans are concerned about data centers driving up electricity costs and impacting the environment, making it a major campaign issue before the midterm elections. Meanwhile, at least 75 projects, totaling $1.3 billion, have been blocked or delayed.
On September 9, 2026, at 4:30 PM, Bloomberg News reported that investment in data centers, a key infrastructure for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, reached a record high in 2026. However, this rapid expansion is sparking backlash in the United States , transforming an issue previously confined to local levels into a major topic ahead of the November midterm elections.
Candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties are scrambling to adjust their campaign strategies to address public discontent over the construction of data centers, which have been fueled by hundreds of billions of dollars in technology investment.
However, President Donald Trump continues to support the accelerated construction of data centers . On August 31, Trump posted on social media that, "China would be happier with this backlash against data centers."
This stance is putting pressure on many Republican candidates, who on one hand want to respond to public dissatisfaction with the data center project, but on the other hand, do not want to take a position that conflicts with Trump.
A survey indicates that 61% do not want a data center near their home.
Public discontent is rising rapidly. A poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania in August found that approximately 61% of Americans oppose the construction of a new data center in their area, a 12 percentage point increase from the February and March polls.
This issue has also become one of the rare occurrences in the United States, where people from both political poles share the same opinion. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in June found that 75% of Democratic supporters and 63% of Republican supporters did not want a data center built in their area.
Electricity bills soared 76%, sparking discontent.
One of the main reasons people are opposed to data centers is concern about the cost of living, especially the impact on electricity costs, as large data centers require enormous amounts of energy to support AI systems.
A report by Monitoring Analytics, the largest independent electricity market monitoring agency in the U.S., indicates that electricity prices in the grid covering 13 states in the eastern and mid-country surged 76% in the first quarter of this year, driven by increased demand from data centers.
Meanwhile, a Bloomberg News analysis found that wholesale electricity costs in areas with a high concentration of data centers increased by as much as 267% between 2563 and 2568.
Several technology companies have pledged to cover the electricity costs necessary for AI development, but it remains unclear how such a mechanism will actually work given the continuing increase in energy demand.
Besides electricity costs, some people are also concerned about the large water consumption of data centers, noise pollution from data center systems, and the significant tax benefits these projects receive.
The widespread anti-AI sentiment is also reflected in opposition to data centers, as some people view AI as potentially threatening jobs and privacy.
Politicians from both parties have taken control of the data center.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York were among the first national politicians to call for a temporary halt to the data center construction earlier this year.
Following this, politicians from various factions, from the MAGA Republican group to moderate Democrats, proposed ways to regulate data centers to prevent residents in affected areas from facing higher electricity costs or environmental impacts.
Even politicians who were once staunch supporters of data centers are starting to change their stance.
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced last year that Texas would become a hub for AI development during the announcement of a $4 billion Google investment. However, by mid-August 2569, he announced a halt to construction of the new data center.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, who previously helped accelerate data center development, issued an executive order in August establishing one of the strictest regulations for data center construction in the country.
He spent $31 million on his campaign, talking about data centers.
The data center theme began to appear prominently in campaign advertisements in several states, including Wyoming, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. By August, political campaigns had spent a combined total of approximately $31 million on ads mentioning data centers.
In Florida, Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds campaigned on the promise that he would not allow data centers to drive up people's electricity costs.
Meanwhile, in Ohio, Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown attacked his Republican opponent, Jon Hasted, for Hasted's past support of data centers.
Republicans risk being disadvantaged by Trump's stance.
Bloomberg estimates that Republicans are at a disadvantage as Democrats have been able to adjust their campaign messaging to oppose data centers more quickly, while Republicans must contend with Trump's continued strong support for the industry.
Some Republicans support pausing the data center project, while others are trying to find a more compromise, such as pushing for technology companies to bear their own energy costs to prevent electricity prices for the public.
Concerns within the Republican Party have grown to the point that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) warned AI companies in an August memo that Democrats were using the data center issue as a key political weapon.
In particular, the battle for the Senate seat in Ohio is underway , with the NRSC even stating that the data center is acting as a major obstacle for Hasted in this election.
Besides Ohio, this issue also plays a crucial role in the elections in Wisconsin and Michigan. In Michigan, Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers announced his support for a one-year halt to the construction of new data centers across the state, a stance shared by his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Zayed.
The $1.3 billion project has been suspended or delayed.
The backlash is not only impacting politics but is beginning to directly affect investment in AI infrastructure.
Kimmeridge Energy Management estimates that up to half of the planned data centers in the United States could face delays or cancellations, partly due to political opposition.
Data from Data Center Watch indicates that in the first three months of 2026, at least 75 data center projects, totaling approximately $130 billion, were hampered or delayed due to community opposition.
However, public opposition is not the only reason for the delays. Many projects also face limitations in the power grid system, which cannot support the enormous energy demand, as well as problems in procuring critical electrical equipment. But political resistance is becoming a major factor slowing the expansion of data centers.
While some projects can continue, tech companies need to invest significant resources in building relationships and gaining acceptance from local communities, as AI companies and industry advocacy groups prepare to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in this year's midterm elections.
Build American AI, supported by the AI-promoting Super PAC Leading the Future, announced on August 31st that it would invest millions of dollars in an advertising campaign to support data centers in battleground states such as Ohio, Kansas, and Wisconsin.
The anti-data center movement is therefore shifting from a community dispute to a national political issue, involving costs of living, energy, the environment, and concerns about AI, and could become one of the factors influencing voters' decisions in the US midterm elections in November.
Reference: www.bloomberg.com
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