The state of New York could be about to set a precedent in the US as it passes a temporary ban on the construction of data centers with an energy demand of 20 megawatts or more for one year.
Numerous other states, cities, and counties across the US have proposed data center bans – but not all of them have been approved, much to the chagrin of local voters. In fact, St. Louis suburb fired half of its city council after their pleas not to build a local datacenter were ignored.
But the growing discontent among US citizens over the proposed, ongoing, or completed construction of data centers is not necessarily translating into action by their representatives. In fact, there is a somewhat growing divide between representatives that are acting on behalf of the constituents they represent and those that don’t – and it doesn’t fall on the political spectrum.
Data centers are not a Republican versus Democrat issue
Many of the proposed state-level moratoriums on data center construction have been sponsored by collections of bi-partisan representatives, or small collections of Democrat or Republican sponsors.
The unfortunate thing, for American voters at least, is that there are highly powerful interest groups exerting control over the US House of Representatives. Big tech has already shown its influence in politics, with numerous companies donating significant amounts of money to the Trump administration, with those cozying up receiving government contracts in return.
Those that fail to bend to the will of the President, as occurred during Anthropic’s spat with the Pentagon, are faced with the threat of having their contracts revoked.
But big tech isn’t the only influential force. The fossil fuel industry – buoyed by President Trump’s support for the oil, gas, and coal power – have also exerted their influence in what they see as prime opportunities to reopen plants under previous administrations and begin new explorations for fossil fuels to meet the growing demand for energy from datacenters.
Which states are fighting new data centers?
According to the US Data Center Moratorium Tracker, at least 18 out of 50 states have proposed legislation to pause data center construction subject to various conditions, such as impact studies, reports, or the introduction of regulations to protect the wellbeing of local communities and ecosystems.
Those submitted in Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin have all failed. A bill similar to New York’s proposed legislation was vetoed in Maine. Georgia, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia have proposed bills that are currently facing varying levels of deliberation.
At this point, no state level legislation preventing the construction of data centers has passed.
But where US citizens are seeing the most success is at the local level. Since 2025, there has been an explosion in the number of bans or restrictions on data center construction at the county, city, and town level.
Of the 40 county level restrictions or bans on data center construction introduced across the US, 31 are currently active. 35 cities across the US have proposed restrictions or bans on data center construction, with 28 currently active.
Interest groups likely do not have the resources to exert the same level of influence at the local level. Councilors and city representatives are far more accessible to their constituents than state representatives, and have a far greater chance of being known personally by their constituents.
Small, localized opposition groups have therefore seen significant success in introducing restrictions and bans on local data center development as the opposition is more tangible. In-person rallies and high attendance at town hall meetings exert far more influence over the fate of the careers of local representatives than they do over members of Congress.
Whether New York’s state moratorium will be implemented remains to be seen, and it certainly could set a favorable precedent for the growing number of Americans opposed to datacenters, but it is at the state level that interest groups exert the most influence.
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benedict.collins@futurenet.com (Benedict Collins)
