More than 70% oppose nearby data centers as Abbott, Shapiro curb approvals

Warnock backs statewide data-center moratorium after Georgia site visit

Recent polls have found that more than 70 percent of the public oppose data centers near them, a level of opposition that has forced governors and candidates who had previously embraced AI to backtrack on the issue.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, one of the longest-serving Republican governors, and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania recently joined the growing group of politicians withdrawing support for data centers by pausing or restricting new data-center approvals in their states. Shapiro, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, had been one of the Democrats most friendly to the AI industry before his recent pivot.

President Trump responded to the backlash on Monday, posting on social media that communities should welcome data centers. “The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor,” he wrote. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.” Trump added that blocking data centers would help China in the global race for AI leadership. “China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement,” he said.

Trump has embraced the build-out throughout his second term, citing jobs created by data-center construction and national security when explaining his support. Industry executives have donated to his inauguration fund, the White House ballroom project and political-action committees aligned with the White House, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some of Trump’s outside political advisers have privately expressed concerns about the president’s support for data centers, worrying that the public will see him as out of touch with their concerns, according to people familiar with the matter. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vice President JD Vance told reporters Monday that the president views data centers as an important part of the AI economy and said that most of the backlash has come in parts of the country “where building a data center means higher utility and higher electricity for the people on the ground.” “If you build the data center you should be putting power back into the grid, not taking it out,” Vance said. “And if that is happening I don’t think the data centers are that controversial, it’s when the utility bills get so much higher that’s when it’s a real problem.”

The Trump administration has pushed dozens of utilities and data-center developers to sign a pledge to limit AI-driven electricity-price hikes, but voter opposition has grown since those pledges were made.

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) recently visited the site of a potential OpenAI data center in Georgia and joined calls for a statewide moratorium on data-center construction after talking to locals. “Data center developers across the country are not operating in partnership with communities, and that’s why everyday citizens on both sides of the aisle are rightly and equally concerned about this,” he said in a statement.

Trump’s industry-friendly stance could pose a challenge for many Republicans on the ballot who support the president but are also responding to voter concerns. Ohio Sen. Jon Husted has backed Trump’s push to get AI companies to pay more for power and is being criticized by former senator Sherrod Brown, his Democratic opponent. In Michigan, former Rep. Mike Rogers is fending off similar criticism from progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed as they face off for an open Senate seat.

Average electricity costs in the U.S. have risen more than 35 percent in the last five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many consumers are blaming data centers, though the industry says it isn’t solely to blame.

Some in the tech industry have blamed China for spreading fear about data centers on social media, claiming that many figures about power and water consumption that circulate are misleading and that other large industrial facilities such as manufacturing plants also consume resources.

Locals have said they are worried about the development of AI, which has the potential to put millions of Americans out of work, and that they don’t trust tech giants, many of which negotiate data-center agreements with local officials privately to avoid sharing proprietary information. Big AI companies have promised to pay more for power and minimize disruptions to local communities at Trump’s request.