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By Joe Edwards
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Data center projects in the United States are facing a record wave of resistance, with a Data Center Watch report finding that at least 75 projects worth about $130 billion were blocked or delayed in the first quarter of 2026.
The group described the period as the “largest single-quarter concentration of blocked and delayed data center projects on record,” saying the disruption roughly matched the scale of all of 2025 in just three months.
A Record Quarter for Opposition
The report, covering January through March 2026, argues that the backlash has moved beyond isolated local disputes and become a national political force. Data Center Watch’s public summary says active opposition groups more than doubled since the end of 2025’s fourth quarter and now span 49 states. NBC News, citing the study, reported that the number rose from 396 groups at the end of 2025 to 833 by March.
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The number of petition signatures collected in the quarter nearly matched all of the second half of 2025, Data Center Watch said.
The study also points to a rise in political scrutiny. More than 300 state-level data center bills were filed in the first six weeks of 2026, and statewide moratorium proposals were introduced in 14 states, according to the report.
Newsweek reached out to Data Center Watch, as well as the Information Technology Industry Council, for comment on the report's findings via email on Friday.
Communities Are Pushing Back
The research comes as data centers have faced growing scrutiny and criticism across the U.S., with community opposition that has centered on electricity demand, water use, noise and whether facilities provide enough local benefit to justify their footprint.
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Erin Brockovich—known for her role in helping build a case against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) over groundwater contamination in California—has launched a nationwide tracking map, gathering reports from local communities detailing their concerns.
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"The race to build AI infrastructures is unfolding town by town across America. In some places, data centers are welcomed," Brockovich said. "In others, they are delayed, contested or abandoned altogether."
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Meanwhile, a June Data Center Opposition Report documented the rapid rise in grassroots opposition to hyperscale AI data centers across the U.S., identifying 430 local data center opposition groups organizing through Facebook, compared with 268 in April.
It found that more than half a million Americans had joined groups to resist the construction of the facilities across at least 40 states, with total opposition membership increasing almost sevenfold since December 2025.
New York became the first U.S. state to stop the construction of large new data centers after Governor Kathy Hochul announced a one-year pause on the building of new large-scale data center facilities, citing concerns about rising electricity demand, utility costs, environmental impacts, and pressure on local communities.
"As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it's my responsibility to take action and lead," Hochul said.
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