The number of local bans on new data center developments jumped to over 500 in July, according to recent data. Local politicians in the United States are refusing to approve new data center construction in greater numbers, posing a threat to the expansion required by AI firms to provide the capacity needed to power the new technology. The analysis, conducted by The Information from legal documents and local news reports, shows that this isn’t a partisan issue.
Republican- and Democrat-run states, towns and counties have all begun to block new data center projects, with Texas and New York both prominent entries from both sides of the political divide, and with the majority of the bans appearing in the Midwest and South, according to the report.