In an unusual display of political unity, Republicans and Democrats across the United States are joining forces to confront what many see as an unfair burden on ordinary citizens: the massive resource consumption and hidden costs of data centres powering the digital economy.
The Rising Tide of Opposition
More than 5,200 data centres now dot the American landscape, from major metropolitan areas to small rural towns. These facilities form the backbone of our digital world, processing information for websites, applications and the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence sector. Tech giants including Amazon, Google, OpenAI and Oracle are racing to construct additional centres to fuel their computation-intensive AI research and development.
While these installations promise local employment opportunities and economic investment, they carry significant environmental and financial consequences. Data centres consume millions of gallons of fresh water for cooling systems, devour enormous amounts of electricity—often from fossil fuel sources—and generate substantial noise pollution that disturbs nearby communities.
The financial impact on households is becoming increasingly apparent. According to Maryland State Senator Katie Fry Hester, utility customers across 13 states and Washington D.C. could see their electricity bills rise by up to $70 monthly by 2028. These increases are directly linked to the projected energy demands of data centre expansion within the PJM Interconnection regional power grid.
Bipartisan Unity Against Corporate Subsidies
In response to these forecasted rate hikes, Senator Hester established the PJM State Legislators Collaborative, bringing together lawmakers from across the region to address the issue collectively. Her initial conference call attracted 75 legislators, demonstrating widespread concern about the situation.
"All of us legislators are dealing with our little piece of the puzzle right around electric rates and what we can control at the state level," Senator Hester told The Independent. "But the billion dollar decisions are being made really high up. And if we didn't jump in and try to influence those decisions, then we were going to miss our opportunity."
Hester, a Democrat, emphasised that she and many colleagues don't oppose data centres in principle, but object to ordinary households subsidising the energy needs of immensely profitable technology corporations. This perspective has achieved rare bipartisan consensus in today's polarised political climate.
"Some of us are red, some of us are blue, some of them are purple," Hester noted. "But everybody thinks that it's not right for the average rate payer to be lining the pocket of Amazon or Google... these big Fortune 500 companies should be paying for their business."
PJM Interconnection currently has 14 data centre proposals under consideration, though only a few include protections preventing residential customers from bearing the brunt of escalating energy costs.
Community Resistance and Corporate Power
Similar conflicts are emerging nationwide. In Michigan, the state's largest electricity provider DTE has claimed that data centres won't increase customer bills. However, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed legal documents stating that DTE's contracts with data centre operators would "entail hundreds of millions of dollars of capital commitments which will affect customer utility rates over at least two decades."
The tension between local communities and well-funded technology corporations became particularly evident in Saline Township, Michigan. When residents learned that a massive $7 billion data centre development was planned near their homes, they voiced strong opposition. The township's Board of Trustees responded by voting 4-1 to reject the necessary rezoning request.
Their victory proved short-lived. Dallas-based firm Related Digital—spearheading the project for tech behemoths OpenAI and Oracle—sued the township over its decision. Facing the prospect of a prolonged and expensive legal battle against deep-pocketed opponents, the trustees reversed their position and agreed to a settlement. The data centre project is now proceeding as originally planned.
"Just leave us alone out in the country. We don't want it," local resident Ed Robinson, 60, told MLive, capturing the frustration felt by many community members.
The Environmental Cost of Digital Expansion
The rapid growth of digital technologies, cryptocurrency mining, and artificial intelligence has dramatically increased demand for larger and more efficient data centres. Today's warehouse-sized facilities require sophisticated cooling systems—using either water or air—to prevent overheating of densely packed processors.
According to the Data Center Map project, 5,246 data centres currently operate across the United States, collectively consuming at least 17 gigawatts of power. To put this in perspective, a single large nuclear power plant generates approximately 1 gigawatt, enough electricity for 300,000 to 750,000 American homes.
A 2024 Harvard-led study revealed that approximately 56% of data centre power comes from fossil fuel sources. Researchers calculated that these facilities emit about 105 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually, representing roughly 2% of all U.S. emissions.
Water consumption presents another major environmental concern. The Environment and Energy Institute reports that a large data centre can use up to 5 million gallons of water daily—equivalent to the consumption of a town with 10,000 to 50,000 residents.
Water Wars in the Desert
Water usage became the central issue in Tucson, Arizona, where the proposed $3.6 billion Project Blue data centre faced determined local opposition. Concerned residents formed the "No Desert Data Center" group and approached the Tucson City Council during summer 2025, warning that the project would deplete the city's already vulnerable groundwater supplies.
The council voted unanimously to reject Project Blue in August. The company behind the project, Beale, subsequently returned with a revised proposal using air cooling instead of water. Pima County Supervisor Jennifer Allen, who opposed the project from the beginning, expressed frustration that this alternative wasn't presented initially.
"Now they've changed their tune, after dragging us through really contentious community meetings and forums and all of this, they pull out of their back pocket that they could have done an air cooled data centre all along," Allen told The Independent.
Beale responded that the City of Tucson had initially expressed "strong, early desire for an investment in their reclaimed water infrastructure" and that the company redesigned the facility when the city changed its position. The company stated it has committed to "100 percent renewable energy use" for its air-cooled proposal along with an additional $15 million community investment.
Despite the setback for Project Blue, the Tucson area remains attractive to data centre developers. The Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson is seeking clients to build facilities on its land, while the nearby towns of Marana and Sahuarita are considering their own data centre projects.
Economic Benefits Versus Community Costs
Proponents highlight the substantial economic benefits that data centres can bring. Over the past eight years, direct employment in the data centre industry has grown by more than 50%—far outpacing the 10% job growth rate in the broader U.S. market. The industry's economic contribution has similarly exploded, rising from $355 billion in 2017 to $727 billion in 2023—a 105% increase.
State and local governments receive significant revenue from these operations. The Data Centre Coalition reports that data centres contributed $162.7 billion to various government levels in 2023 alone. For comparison, the entire cost of building and maintaining the International Space Station over its lifetime has been approximately $150 billion according to the European Space Agency.
Virginia has particularly embraced the data centre industry. Long established as an internet and technology hub, the state offers tax incentives and has eased regulations to attract data centre investment. Loudon County—specifically Ashburn—has earned the nickname "Data Center Alley" with 199 facilities concentrated in that single county.
A 2023 state report determined that "the data centre industry is estimated to contribute 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in labor income, and $9.1 billion in GDP to Virginia's economy annually." Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest energy provider, charges data centres utility rates that are 28% below the national average, while the Potomac River supplies their substantial water requirements.
Regulatory Responses and Future Outlook
Some states are actively streamlining data centre development despite environmental concerns. West Virginia passed legislation earlier this year that removed local control over data centre ordinances, transferring authority to the state level to facilitate construction. Lawmakers also approved measures promoting fossil-fuel-generated electricity to power future data centre expansion.
Meanwhile, communities that have experienced the downsides of data centre development are implementing protective measures. Pima County has dispatched lobbyists to Phoenix with instructions to "put an end to the tax breaks that data centres get on sales state and local sales tax for the purchase of data centre equipment."
The county now requires due diligence reviews including robust environmental impact studies for future projects. Regulations that allowed developers to use non-disclosure agreements to conceal project details from the public are being reformed.
Pima County Supervisor Jennifer Allen remains hopeful about restoring community control. "The tide is turning," she observed. "We are now seeing, all over the state of Arizona, other municipalities have made changes to their ordinances and their zoning and putting limits on data centres... so you know, I think we're optimistic."
As the artificial intelligence revolution accelerates demand for computational power, the tension between technological progress, corporate profit, community interests, and environmental sustainability seems certain to intensify. The rare bipartisan cooperation emerging around this issue suggests that, regardless of political affiliation, Americans increasingly agree that the benefits of digital expansion shouldn't come at the expense of ordinary households and local environments.
