Grassroots Opposition Stalls $68 Billion in US Data Center Projects in Q2

According to a report by Data Center Watch, growing local public opposition in the US stalled or delayed roughly 45 data center projects worth $68 billion during the second quarter alone. This affected more than half of all new large-scale computing infrastructure projects tracked by the research firm during that period. The pushback underscores how local environmental, societal, and regulatory bottlenecks are becoming major obstacles to the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure. As data centers consume vast amounts of electricity and water, tech hyperscalers face growing political friction and community resistance to expanding compute capacity. Legislators in around 30 US states have introduced or passed regulations constraining data center siting, energy usage, and water consumption, with 843 grassroots opposition groups formed across 49 states. The study also highlights that this resistance movement is expanding internationally to regions such as Europe, Australia, and South Africa.