AI data center backlash: Public opposition to new projects is growing

For more than a century, the Conshohocken Steel Mill in suburban Philadelphia employed thousands of people and was the foundation of a booming industrial economy. But the original owner went bankrupt in the 1970s, after which the facility was continued by a series of new owners. Last summer it stood still indefinitely, and offered for sale.

It is a familiar story of decline. The Trump administration has talked a lot about reviving American manufacturing; His previous efforts had failed. But at least in Conshohocken, the remnants of America's industrial age fit perfectly with what drives the economy today – artificial intelligence. A local developer has quickly begun converting the old steel mill into a massive new data center.

“I propose to advance AI while replacing 19th century manufacturing with 21st century manufacturing,” says developer Brian O'Neill said the Plymouth Township Planning Agency meeting in October.

There are Billion dollar data center Projects currently underway in the United States Hundreds of billions of dollars more planned. President Donald Trump loves them. So do it prominent Democrats. At the local level, they are sold to the authorities as an all-upside: be part of the economy of the future, collect tons of tax revenue and do all this without having to provide many new services.

“The annual revenue of the building I propose is $21 million per year. And that's with no traffic, no kids in the school system, with nothing but cash flow,” O'Neill said. (O'Neill did not respond to an interview request.)

This proposal is well received by many politicians – but it fails with a large and growing coalition of ordinary people.

“There's just nothing positive for residents around data centers,” said Genevieve Boland, who lives just a few blocks from the old steel mill.

As the AI ​​economy has boomed, this backlash has been steadily increasing in communities across the country—and it could very well shape the future of our politics and economy.

The populist backlash against data centers

Shortly after learning about the proposed data center, Boland and her roommate Patti Smith began mobilizing opposition neighbors, handing out leaflets and “visiting the city's Facebook page like we've never done before.”
Their appeals were very well received. Neighbors expressed concerns about noise and light, possible pollution and what the center could mean for electricity costs – Issue that was repeated himself in other communities where data centers are popping up.

“Obviously our utilities are going to skyrocket and I don’t want that to happen,” said Mark Musial, who also lives near the plant.

Pennsylvania is part of a regional power grid in which a large number of new data centers have emerged in recent years. and a corresponding increase in electricity costs. Electric bills rose about 20 percent in New Jersey last year, becoming a flashpoint in that state's governor's race.

The backlash against data centers is I'm just getting started To are bubbling in the newsBut it has already had consequences: In the second quarter of this year, 20 data center projects worth nearly $100 billion were canceled or delayed due to community opposition, according to a report Data center monitoringa project that tracks resistance to the development of data centers.

How resistance to data centers is disrupting politics

The data center backlash doesn't really have any obvious ideological significance.

“One notable finding is that opposition to data centers was bipartisan,” said Miquel Villa, an analyst at 10a labs, an AI security company that makes Data Center Watch. “You could find it in both red states and blue states.”

Democratic candidates for governor in New Jersey and Virginia made criticism of some aspects of data center expansion part of their winning campaign messaging in this year's election, but the races so far dominated by data center backlash have been local.

Two Democrats in Georgia won big upsets and secured seats through that state's Public Service Commission, which helps regulate climate and energy policy. The race was dominated by rising electricity bills amid the data center boom there.

And a series of local races in Virginia – home to the largest cluster of data centers in the world – were fought over data centers. Democrat John McAuliff, running to redistrict a conservative legislative district in Northern Virginia, built his campaign on opposition to the state's generous data center policy.

“We would knock on 80 to 100 doors [a day] and have 15 interviews; “More than 10 of them would be related to data centers in this context,” McAuliff said. “Which is remarkable.”

So far, more Democrats than Republicans appear to have used opposition to data centers as a political tool, but this cannot be broken down neatly along party lines. In Florida, James Fishback is an extremely online, extremely right winger Candidate for the Republican nomination for governor in 2026raises opposition to data centers a Tentpole edition of his campaign launch. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri has also criticized data centers.

In suburban Philadelphia, the Conshohocken steel mill will likely remain empty for a while: Last month, the developer who wanted to convert it into a data center abruptly abandoned the plant Application when the project encountered a legal problem.

Boland and Smith, the roommates-turned-organizers, told me they were relieved, but they weren't done yet. They plan to continue organizing against data centers along with other activists from across the country they have contacted in recent weeks. Boland recently started a website to coordinate the nationwide pushback.

“Data centers everywhere, data centers in your backyard — it’s not inevitable,” she said. “You can change it.”

As AI becomes more widespread, this is a message that resonates – and this backlash could well be a sign of a bumpier road ahead for AI expansion.