Residents opposing rapid artificial intelligence infrastructure development organized demonstrations over electricity costs, water use, property rights and local control as data center construction becomes an emerging national political issue.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Community opposition to the expanding network of artificial intelligence data centers reached a national scale Saturday as organizers coordinated 142 protests across 42 states.
HumansFirst, a group co-founded by former Tea Party leader and Women-for-Trump co-founder Amy Kremer, organized the demonstrations. Kremer has described the campaign as nonpartisan and criticized both political parties for allowing technology companies to pursue large developments without sufficiently involving affected residents.
The protests focused on concerns that data centers could increase electricity prices, consume large amounts of water, reduce surrounding property values and place new burdens on local infrastructure.
“They just woke up one day and found out they’re going to have this monstrosity in their community, and they don’t want it,” Kremer said.
She predicted that public resistance to data centers could become a defining issue in the November midterm elections and the 2028 presidential campaign.
“Today, 142 communities across 42 states stood together to send a simple message: Americans deserve a voice before Big Tech reshapes their communities,” HumansFirst said in a July 18 post on X. “This was never about politics.”
“It was about families, property rights, water, electricity, home values, local control, and government accountability. Thank you to every community that stood together to protect our homes, communities, and country. Today was the beginning. Not the end.”
Texas hosted 18 demonstrations, more than any other state. Georgia held 11 rallies, California had eight, and Pennsylvania, Florida and Indiana each hosted seven.
The coordinated events marked a shift from isolated zoning disputes toward a broader political movement challenging the pace and scale of data center construction.
HumansFirst argues that local communities are being asked to absorb the financial and environmental costs of artificial intelligence infrastructure while technology companies receive favorable treatment from government officials.
The organization describes President Donald Trump’s political coalition as a movement centered on the interests of ordinary Americans, but warns that large artificial intelligence companies are attempting to redirect it.
“Now, Big AI globalists seek to hijack our movement to get Washington, D.C. to put Big AI before the American people. Humans First is the start of the fight to reclaim our country,” the group said.
Kremer said Republicans have too often given technology companies a “free pass” on data center projects despite concerns raised by residents.
The protests come as demand for computing power accelerates because of artificial intelligence development, cloud computing and digital services. Data centers require extensive electrical capacity to operate servers and cooling systems, often prompting new power plants, transmission lines and utility upgrades.
Industry representatives say developers are working to reduce those effects.
“The data center industry is continuing to work with policymakers, stakeholders, and residents to ensure data centers strengthen, not strain, the areas where they operate—while mitigating any negative impacts to households and businesses,” said Josh Levi, president of the Data Center Coalition, an industry trade and lobbying organization.
HumansFirst promoted a July 17 Fox interview with Kevin Roberts, president of a conservative think tank, who said concerns about data centers should not be dismissed as opposition to markets or technological advancement.
“I’m with the skeptics on these AI data centers,” Roberts said.
“The people there feel like something is being taken from them; they’re not anti-free market,” he said.
Roberts cited rising utility costs in Virginia as an example of how infrastructure development can affect households.
“Earlier this week, all of us who were customers of a particular energy company in Virginia got an email that said your costs are going up $8 a month,” he said.
“Because they need the money. They say to build the capacity transmission lines for the electricity to go to the data centers. This is a very real issue.”
Roberts said technological development and community interests do not have to be mutually exclusive.
“I’m with those people who are skeptics who also want to have the win-win, so that we can continue to reap the benefits of this great technology,” he said.
The United States has more than 3,100 operating data centers and more than 1,800 additional facilities under construction or in planning stages, according to Data Center Map, an infrastructure intelligence and mapping platform.
Virginia, Texas and California have the largest combined numbers of operating, planned and under-construction facilities.
Virginia has 711 data centers across those categories. Texas has 544, while California has 333.
The concentration of projects in those states has intensified debate over electricity generation, water availability, land use and the effect of industrial-scale facilities on surrounding communities.
Data Center Watch reported that organized resistance is increasingly affecting investment decisions. The research group estimated that $152 billion in potential data center development was blocked or delayed during 2025.
Approximately $98 billion of that disruption occurred during the second quarter alone, exceeding the value of all delayed or blocked projects recorded since 2023. Twenty projects were affected during that quarter.
Opposition accelerated during the third and fourth quarters as hundreds of activist groups across 42 states organized against proposed construction and expansion projects.
Public opinion remains divided.
A Redfin-commissioned survey conducted by Ipsos found that 47% of respondents opposed the construction of artificial intelligence data centers in their neighborhoods, while 38% supported such development.
Younger Americans were more likely than older residents to support nearby data center construction.
Support also differed by political affiliation. The survey found that 49% of Republicans favored data center development in their communities, compared with 36% of Democrats.
The findings suggest that opposition does not fall neatly along traditional partisan lines. Concerns over utility bills, property values and local decision-making have brought together residents with different political backgrounds.
HumansFirst is seeking to turn that shared concern into a sustained national campaign.
Saturday’s demonstrations showed that resistance to data center construction is no longer confined to individual planning boards or neighborhood meetings. Organizers are increasingly framing the issue as a national dispute over who receives the benefits of artificial intelligence development and who bears its costs.
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