Local resistance disrupted at least 45 proposed U.S. data center developments worth nearly $68 billion between April and June, extending a nationwide backlash that has spread to almost every state.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Local opposition to large data centers disrupted at least $68 billion in planned U.S. development during the second quarter of 2026, extending a wave of community resistance that has increasingly become a constraint on the rapid construction of infrastructure needed to power artificial intelligence.
At least 45 projects were blocked or delayed between April and June, according to Data Center Watch, a research project operated by AI intelligence company 10a Labs.
Those projects represented more than half of the new large-scale developments the organization tracked during the three-month period, according to Bloomberg’s reporting on the findings.
The $68 billion total follows an even larger wave of disruptions during the opening months of the year, when opponents slowed or stopped at least 75 projects valued at approximately $130 billion.
Data Center Watch described the first quarter as the largest concentration of blocked or delayed data center projects it had recorded in any three-month period since beginning its tracking in 2023.
The continued disruptions during the second quarter suggest the opposition has become more persistent rather than fading after an unusually active start to the year.
“New groups continue to emerge, opposition is appearing across a wide range of states and jurisdictions, and online petition signatures continue to grow,” Data Center Watch lead analyst Miquel Vila said.
The organization’s second-quarter report found that resistance has increasingly moved beyond individual projects. Communities have imposed moratoriums before developers even submit proposals, while state governments have begun considering regulations involving where data centers can be built, how much electricity and water they use and who should bear the cost of new infrastructure needed to serve them.
Data Center Watch counted 843 groups opposing data center projects across 49 states by the second quarter. Hawaii was the only state without a group identified by the organization.
Roughly 30 statehouses introduced or adopted legislation, resolutions or executive actions addressing data center development, including measures involving siting, water supplies, power consumption and infrastructure cost-sharing.
Some campaigns have drawn hundreds of thousands of supporters.
In Tennessee, a Change.org petition opposing one proposed data center accumulated more than 500,000 signatures, according to Data Center Watch. That single campaign represented more than one-third of the signatures collected on data center petitions through the platform during the quarter.
The scale of opposition follows what researchers described earlier in the year as a significant change in how communities respond to proposed projects.
Reporting on the first-quarter findings noted that the 75 projects worth about $130 billion that were disrupted from January through March roughly matched the scale of data center projects affected during all of 2025.
An earlier study obtained by NBC News described the trend as something broader than a temporary increase in local disputes.
“The quarter reflected a structural shift rather than a cyclical spike: communities have internalized an opposition playbook, legislative sessions introduced formal regulatory uncertainty, and the number of active opposition groups more than doubled to 833 across 49 states,” the study stated.
Data Center Watch’s second-quarter total subsequently increased the number of opposition groups to 843.
The objections vary by community.
Residents and advocacy organizations have raised concerns about electricity demand, water consumption, noise, pressure on utility rates, land use, property values and the use of tax incentives for developments that can require billions of dollars in investment.
Data Center Watch cautions that opposition alone does not explain every delay. Utility availability, grid infrastructure, permitting requirements, market conditions and construction constraints can also affect whether projects move forward.
Public opinion data nevertheless indicate that skepticism toward local development is widespread.
A Gallup survey conducted March 2-18 found that 70% of Americans opposed construction of an AI data center in their local area, including 48% who said they strongly opposed such a project.
Only about one-quarter supported local AI data center construction, while 7% strongly favored it.
Those attitudes are emerging as technology companies commit enormous amounts of capital to new computing infrastructure.
Modern AI systems require extensive networks of specialized processors housed in facilities that can consume large amounts of electricity. Rapid growth in generative AI has consequently intensified competition among technology companies for power, land, cooling capacity and access to advanced chips.
Industry executives contend that local resistance can change where facilities are constructed and increase their costs without eliminating the underlying demand.
CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator, whose company operates AI computing infrastructure powered largely by Nvidia graphics processors, addressed the issue during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Tech Conference.
“The debate around data centers has been expansive,” Intrator said.
He argued that prohibiting construction in one jurisdiction would primarily redirect investment elsewhere rather than stop expansion.
“But let’s be very clear, the demand for compute will not be altered by a jurisdiction saying you’re not allowed to build data centers here. All that will do is cause the data center to move to a different location. It will cause perhaps an increase in cost, but ultimately the data center will be built and delivered because the market signals are for that to happen.”
Intrator also acknowledged that residents’ concerns about the infrastructure are legitimate and said the industry needs to communicate more effectively with communities before construction begins.
CoreWeave itself has reported demand substantially exceeding its available capacity. Intrator said in September that the company was “struggling to meet demand every day” and that individual graphics processors could be sold to multiple customers.
That demand helps explain why data center construction continues despite the growing number of moratoriums, zoning disputes and community campaigns.
The second-quarter figures indicate, however, that the expansion is increasingly encountering obstacles before projects reach construction.
During the first six months of 2026 alone, Data Center Watch identified at least 120 projects worth approximately $198 billion that were blocked or delayed across the two quarters, although some projects affected earlier in the year may have remained part of continuing disputes and the figures should not automatically be treated as entirely separate completed losses.
The organization’s Q2 analysis found communities increasingly challenging individual permits, infrastructure arrangements and government decisions rather than opposing the industry only in broad terms.
State lawmakers have simultaneously become more involved, transforming what was once primarily a collection of zoning and planning disputes into wider debates over electric grids, water resources and the economic costs and benefits of AI infrastructure.
For developers, that means obtaining land and financing is no longer enough. Companies increasingly must persuade utilities, local officials and residents that a proposed facility will not shift infrastructure costs or resource burdens onto the surrounding community.
For opponents, the first half of 2026 demonstrated that local organizing can postpone projects carrying tens of billions of dollars in investment.
The result is a collision between two rapidly growing forces: technology companies seeking unprecedented amounts of computing capacity and communities becoming increasingly organized in demanding a greater say over where — and under what conditions — that infrastructure gets built.
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