{"slug": "harvard-scholar-the-data-center-backlash-is-just-getting-started", "title": "Harvard scholar: the data-center backlash is just getting started", "summary": "A Harvard researcher warns that local backlash against data center construction is intensifying as communities face rising electricity prices, noise, and water use. Despite federal support for data centers as a strategic priority, local governments are pushing back against the tech industry's rapid expansion.", "body_md": "As the race to build data centers across the United States accelerates, local governments worry that the tech industry mantra of “[move fast and break things](https://www.forbes.com/sites/hillennevins/2026/03/26/why-its-time-to-stop-saying-move-fast-and-break-things/)” means their communities are at risk of being broken.\n\nI’m a [Harvard researcher](https://www.belfercenter.org/collection/project-grid-integration) studying the relationship between data centers and energy. I’ve closely monitored how local governments respond to proposals or even just concerns about the potential for data centers in their communities. What I’ve found is a complex story of community needs, political tensions and corporate power – all interacting with local, state and national democratic processes.\n\n## Promises and potential\n\nTechnology companies stay competitive by being ready to provide data and communications services [even before customer demand rises](https://www.belfercenter.org/research-analysis/ai-data-centers-us-electric-grid). Data centers already [power online communications](https://www.coresite.com/blog/the-role-of-data-centers-in-powering-digital-everything), shopping and [banking](https://fortune.com/company/nubank/) systems. Now, expanding demand for artificial intelligence has led to [over 1,000 pending data center proposals](https://cleanview.co/data-centers/us) across the country.\n\nFederal actions also drive development. The Trump administration has [identified data center build-out as a strategic priority](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/accelerating-federal-permitting-of-data-center-infrastructure/). The administration has promoted data center capacity as a [measure of American strength](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-state-of-ai-competition-in-advanced-economies-20251006.html) and signaled that [federal regulations on data centers](https://www.wired.com/story/the-us-government-is-letting-a-key-data-center-regulation-expire/) may be eased.\n\nAt the community level, technology companies [claim that data centers bring jobs](https://americanedgeproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Americas-AI-Surge-Powering-Growth-in-Every-State.pdf), economic revitalization, digital connectivity and economic growth to local communities.\n\n## Not great neighbors\n\nSo far, however, [data centers’ benefits](https://www.wri.org/insights/us-data-center-growth-impacts) are overshadowed by [more visible harms](https://theconversation.com/5-ways-data-centers-endanger-their-local-communities-and-the-country-as-a-whole-282348).\n\nNearby residents experience [higher air pollution](https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/analyzing-air-pollution-health-economic-risks-from-ai-data-centers/) and [excess noise](https://wwmt.com/news/local/lawsuit-hyperscale-data-center-dowagiac-noise-class-action-business-center-legal-osha-decibels-contained-digital-asset-mining-facility-rural-southwest-michigan-infrastructure). Data processing also uses a lot of [water](https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption) to [cool the buildings and their equipment](https://theconversation.com/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-tell-the-public-exactly-how-much-262901).\n\n[Natalie Behring/Getty Images](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/commissioners-look-at-a-presentation-at-a-planning-and-news-photo/2277885990)\n\nSimultaneously, [electricity prices](https://www.consumerreports.org/data-centers/ai-data-centers-impact-on-electric-bills-water-and-more-a1040338678/) continue to outpace inflation, burdening families across the country. These trends reflect, in part, the [costly infrastructure investments](https://theconversation.com/data-centers-need-electricity-fast-but-utilities-need-years-to-build-power-plants-who-should-pay-271048) needed to power data centers.\n\n## The local movement\n\nMy research has found that local governments across the U.S. are trying to avoid or reduce these harms.\n\nSome counties and cities that don’t have specific zoning rules and regulations for data center development are using short-term moratoriums. These pauses in data center permitting and construction give communities time to consider how to define new laws and regulations about the facilities’ location, electricity use, water conservation and noise buffering.\n\nSpeaking about his town’s decision to impose a one-year data center moratorium, Rick Bella, the town council president in Merrillville, Indiana, about 40 miles southeast of Chicago, stressed a desire to “[evaluate real-world impacts](https://nwindianabusiness.com/industries/professional-services/information-technology/merrillville-council-oks-1-year-data-center-moratorium/78095/) and learn from a project developing right next door before determining what may or may not be appropriate for Merrillville.”\n\nOther places want to block data centers altogether. In April 2026, for example, the [Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority](https://cms3.revize.com/revize/ypsilantiwater/Documents/About/Board%20of%20Commissioners/Agendas%20And%20Minutes/2026/2026-04-22%20Board%20Packet.pdf) near Detroit, Michigan, passed a yearlong halt to the “delivery, commitment, reservation, extension, or approval of water and sewer services” for data centers. The move blocks data centers, including one under development by the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory, from [getting the water](https://www.michigandaily.com/news/news-briefs/ypsilanti-township-proposes-water-moratorium-that-could-block-planned-umich-data-center/) they need to operate.\n\nSeparately, towns across Ohio, Wisconsin, Maryland, Nevada and California have put [questions related to data centers on their local ballots](https://www.multistate.us/insider/2026/5/7/voters-target-data-centers-with-local-and-statewide-ballot-measures). Through these referendums, voters can weigh in on construction bans, tax incentives and zoning ordinances.\n\n[Oracle](https://fortune.com/company/oracle/)and Open AI.\n\n[Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/saline-michigan-construction-of-a-16-billion-data-center-news-photo/2275015698)\n\n## Power struggles\n\nWhile public attitudes around data centers have remained largely [nonpartisan](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/us/politics/liberals-conservatives-data-centers.html), local and state officials don’t always see eye to eye.\n\nOfficials in Hood County, Texas, for example, [rejected a proposal for a six-month moratorium](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/10/texas-hood-county-rejects-data-center-development-pause-ai/) after a state senator urged the Texas attorney general to intervene and prevent the measure.\n\nIn 2025, [West Virginia](https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/1-year-post-hb-2014-data-center-environmental-protection-transparency-limits-loom/article_e166f9fb-6ec8-4d1e-945a-5ec010e661bd.html) passed a bill that reduces local governments’ zoning and regulatory powers in relation to data centers and microgrids. A similar bill in [New Hampshire](https://newhampshirebulletin.com/briefs/house-sets-by-right-data-center-zoning-bill-aside-in-decisive-vote/)’s legislature was defeated in May 2026.\n\nTech companies are also flexing their legal and financial muscles. For example, data center developers sued [Saline Township, Michigan](https://fortune.com/2026/05/06/ai-data-center-michigan-saline-politics-farmland/), and [Chatham County, North Carolina](https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article315547697.html), seeking to overturn their local zoning decisions, to be able to proceed with data center construction.\n\n## Changing tides\n\nLocal pushback comes at a pivotal moment for artificial intelligence technology itself.\n\nAs seen in [objections](https://fortune.com/2026/06/05/war-ai-slop-publicis-groupe-hachette-publishers-association/) to the internet’s expanding [AI “slop](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/merriam-websters-word-of-the-year-for-2025-is-slop-the-ai-generated-junk-that-fills-our-social-media-feeds-180987887/),” backlash over AI-generated [Super Bowl ads](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/super-bowl-ai-ads-critics-experts-1235514369/), worries about [an AI-related financial bubble](https://www.fastcompany.com/91551762/stock-market-ai-bubble-recent-warning-sign-sp-500-mag-seven) and complaints about [Google’s pivot](https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/duckduckgo-installs-spike-google-search-ai) to AI-directed search, Americans are reckoning with AI’s role in society.\n\nFurther, many people are questioning the role of technology broadly. Increasing numbers of teens and adults are [addicted to their smartphones](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/behavior-disorders/addiction-to-electronic-devices), emotionally and psychologically dependent on their availability. Parents and teachers are questioning the [usefulness of various types of digital technologies in classrooms](https://jacobin.com/2026/05/educational-technology-children-learning-iready). Even the pope has warned that [technology must serve humanity](https://newrepublic.com/article/210916/pope-leo-xiv-encyclical-ai-silicon-valley-oligarchy) – and not the other way around.\n\nAmericans are responding to this moment through the power of their voices and votes.\n\n[Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/st-paul-minnesota-state-capitol-data-center-moratorium-now-news-photo/2272795445)\n\nTechnology companies may view moratoriums and new regulations as delays in project development. But the town hall discussions, [community coalitions](https://www.nj.com/news/2026/05/60-groups-just-called-on-nj-governor-to-immediately-pause-all-ai-data-center-projects.html), [public petitions](https://www.change.org/topic/data-centers-en-us) and even [farmers’ unions](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2026/04/15/texas-agriculture-commissioner-candidate-on-data-centers) reflect American democracy at work.\n\nIn [Sunbury, Ohio](https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/information-technology/2026/03/30/sunbury-ohio-consider-moratorium-data-centers-resident-pushback/89384301007/), local officials considered a moratorium only after witnessing the scope of public protest over a proposed data center.\n\nIn April 2026, voters in [Festus, Missouri](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/13/missouri-city-council-data-center-00867259), removed several City Council members after they supported a new data center despite resident pushback.\n\nThe question of whether a community wants or should have a data center does not have a universal answer. I believe it’s a question that deserves deliberate processes, transparency and consideration.\n\nTo me, these local-level actions reflect a desire to slow down. There is little question that data centers and AI will be part of our collective future. Today, communities are asking for a fair say in what their futures will be.\n\n[Rachel Mural](https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachel-mural-2706717), Senior Research Associate in Environment and Natural Resources and Science, Technology, and Public Policy, [Harvard Kennedy School](https://theconversation.com/institutions/harvard-kennedy-school-3840)\n\n*This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.*\n\n**Subscribe to Fortune Gulf Brief**. Every Tuesday, this new newsletter delivers clear-eyed, authoritative intelligence on the deals, decisions, policies, and power shifts shaping one of the world’s most consequential regions, written for the people who need to act on it.\n\n[Sign up here.](https://fortune.com/newsletters/fortune-gulf-brief?&itm_source=fortune&itm_medium=nl_article_tout&itm_campaign=gulf_brief)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/harvard-scholar-the-data-center-backlash-is-just-getting-started", "canonical_source": "https://fortune.com/2026/06/21/data-center-backlash-harvard-study-zoning-local-pushback/", "published_at": "2026-06-21 14:48:20+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-21 15:33:35.551066+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Harvard", "Trump administration", "Natalie Behring", "Getty Images"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/harvard-scholar-the-data-center-backlash-is-just-getting-started", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/harvard-scholar-the-data-center-backlash-is-just-getting-started.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/harvard-scholar-the-data-center-backlash-is-just-getting-started.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/harvard-scholar-the-data-center-backlash-is-just-getting-started.jsonld"}}