Overview
- Local ballots on Tuesday produced at least 33 measures that would restrict or block new data centers nationwide while only one measure favored construction.
- Ohio saw particularly strong rejection, with at least 14 municipalities approving bans or strict limits and those votes adding to roughly 125 local moratoriums already in the state.
- Residents cited rising electricity costs, heavy water use, pollution, noise, and loss of farmland as the main reasons they voted to limit data‑center construction.
- Industry‑linked groups spent millions on pro‑data‑center ads in key states but largely failed to reverse local opposition even as states report plans for up to $40 billion in infrastructure investment.
- The results increase pressure on officials to demand transparency, require developers to pay for grid and water upgrades, and are likely to produce more legal challenges, delays connecting projects to the electric grid, and possible state or federal policy changes.