How a small Wisconsin city scuttled a secretive $1.6bn datacenter project; The Guardian, November 1, 2026

 Daniel A Medina with photographs by Eric Ruby, The Guardian ; How a small Wisconsin city scuttled a secretive $1.6bn datacenter project

"The relationship between Balloonist and Menomonie began in February 2024 when two Menomonie city officials, Atkinson and David Schofield, the city’s director of public works, signed NDAs with the developer. The one-page agreement, obtained by the Guardian, makes no mention of a datacenter. It does clearly instruct signatories that they cannot reveal the tech company behind “the project” or even the existence of the agreement itself.

A month after he signed the NDA, Schofield presented the city council with a proposed ordinance which would define the term “warehousing” in the city’s code. The newly added definition included the line, “establishments used primarily for the storage, management, processing, and transmission of digital data”, that effectively paved the way for a datacenter. The city council approved the change at an April 2024 council meeting. It is unclear if any councilmembers knew of Balloonist or of the potential datacenter project at the time of the vote.

That was the first step in a nearly 18-month process where the two sides developed plans for the datacenter campus in secret until the city government put out a press release about the proposed project in July 2025, according to interviews, public records and emails obtained by the Guardian. The emails, which cover a period from January to September 2025, show how the city and Balloonist took the necessary actions to make the datacenter a reality.

The emails also reveal, in real time, the fierce community backlash that eventually doomed it...

Knaack said he was proud to have stopped the datacenter, for now, and that he was encouraged to see the growing backlash nationally, claiming Menomonie could serve as a model for other small municipalities fighting back.

“All small communities should be aware that when somebody comes in with a sales pitch that seems too good to be true, maybe it is,” he said. “Learn from our mistakes and follow our lead...

At least $156bn in projects were blocked or delayed in 2025 across the United States, according to Data Center Watch, a project by the AI safety firm, 10a Labs, that tracks opposition nationwide to datacenters. This year, between April and June, 45 projects worth an estimated $68bn were blocked or delayed.

That opposition to the infrastructure that trains and powers AI models, and growing public distrust of the industry itself, has become one of the defining bipartisan issues ahead of the midterm elections.

President Trump, who has made AI the centerpiece of his second-term economic agenda, lashed out in an August Truth Social post that communities that opposed AI datacenters risked ending up “backwards and poor”.

At the local level, more than 500 counties and municipalities now seek to ban or restrict datacenters, according to an analysis from the climate news site HeatMap."

Backlash against AI data centers threatens GOP’s grip on Ohio, Texas; The Hill, October 30, 2026

 IRA BHAKTA , The Hill; Backlash against AI data centers threatens GOP’s grip on Ohio, Texas

"The importance of AI data centers is growing this election cycle as the fight over the infrastructure’s costs and environmental impacts may be threatening Republicans in battleground states like Texas and Ohio.

Grassroots movements in rural communities, particularly where President Trump won by double-digit margins in each of his presidential bids, are threatening the rural vote the GOP has counted on for decades, experts and voters say...

Data centers are increasingly being built in rural communities, with 67 percent of planned projects slated in rural areas, according to an April Pew Research Center study."

Ohio’s Data-Center Revolt Is Upending the Midterms; Time, October 29, 2026

 Naomi Nix , Time; Ohio’s Data-Center Revolt Is Upending the Midterms

"Community pushback prompted the Grove City council to pass a yearlong moratorium on data-center construction. In November, Grove City residents will vote on a proposal to go even further, making all large developments subject to voter approval. The issue has upended the intimate politics of this conservative community of 45,180. Community Facebook groups are filled with bickering, angry residents have filled council meetings, and activists filed freedom-of-information requests seeking answers about city officials’ communications about the referendum. Grove City’s longtime mayor, Richard “Ike” Stage, and other local leaders have fought against their efforts, saying the ballot initiative to restrict development would hurt economic growth...

In June, the moratorium passed 6-1. Emboldened, the anti-data-center advocates with Protect Grove City decided the one-year moratorium wasn’t enough, and wrote a proposed amendment to the city’s charter, which functions like a governing constitution. It would prohibit the city from approving zoning applications for developments that occupy at least 50 acres, use more than 20 megawatts of power at peak capacity, or consume more than 500,000 gallons of water per day unless a majority of voters have backed the project in a public referendum. To drum up support, they canvassed local farmers’ markets, parks, and sporting events to ask people to sign a petition to put the measure on the ballot in November. Within a few weeks, they secured enough signatures."

Springdale data center hearing draws a crowd, a chorus and regional opposition; Pittsburgh's Public Source, October 29, 2026

 Jamie Wiggan and  Lucas Dufalla, Pittsburgh's Public Source; Springdale data center hearing draws a crowd, a chorus and regional opposition

Allegheny County’s in-person meeting amid its review of a data center plan filled Springdale Borough’s gymnasium. Concern over diesel generators drowned out enthusiasm for construction work.

"Speakers took turns denouncing the data center plans in prepared speeches, then a spirit of improv took over. One attendee who said she had driven to the Allegheny Valley town from Pittsburgh performed a song she’d written for the occasion on a three-quarter-sized acoustic guitar. Then the crowd broke into a chorus of “we don’t need your damn pollution” to the tune of Pink Floyd. 

The carnival-like protest came ahead of a county-led hearing on Dynamo DC’s plans to transform a former coal-fired power plant site into a mega data center campus. 

With borough approval already secured in December, opponents from Springdale and beyond  see Allegheny County’s land development review as their last chance to halt the project." 

All the latest updates on AI data centers; The Verge, October 28, 2026

 Verge Staff and Justine Calma , The Verge; All the latest updates on AI data centers

"Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment.

From audacious plans to launch data centers into space to the latest legal battles over pollution, The Verge has the biggest news and reporting surrounding data centers."

Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California; The Guardian, October 17, 2026

 Dara Kerr and Gabrielle Canon , The Guardian; Inside the long, bitter fight over one man’s quest to build the biggest AI datacenter in California

"Rucci is among the new class of middlemen who inhabit the burgeoning world of datacenter development. The rapid rise of artificial intelligence – galvanized by Silicon Valley companies worth trillions of dollars – has fueled one of the biggest industrial construction booms in history. The technology requires far more computing power than traditional internet services, and that means building enormous new structures to house millions of servers."

At the White House, Trump will pitch an AI ‘golden age’ to a wary nation; The Washington Post, September 29, 2026

 Ian Duncan, The Washington Post; At the White House, Trump will pitch an AI ‘golden age’ to a wary nation

After rogue AI agents probed agency websites, Washington’s concerns are at a peak, but the White House has focused on the technology’s promise.

"After weeks of Washington being gripped by a new wave of fear about artificial intelligence gone awry, the Trump administration will take a sharply different take Tuesday, seeking to convince a skeptical public that the nation is instead about to embark on a tech-powered “golden age.”...

The events come at a pivotal moment for the technology. AI firms say their latest systems have become increasingly powerful, showing signs of being able to design their own more-potent successors. But companies have struggled to keep control of the technology, as rogue AI agents have hacked into company and government systems, and a roster of top industry figures have warned that the end result could be catastrophic for humanity...

Yet even as the public’s concerns have grown and Democrats in Congress have pressed for regulation, Trump has largely dismissed the risk, calling it a “hoax.”

Tuesday’s events are a chance for the administration to focus on the upsides of the technology, propelling a different narrative than the warnings introduced by company CEOs in recent weeks. AI’s many boosters expect it will invigorate the economy, push the boundaries of science and help cure diseases. But that message has found only limited traction with a public worried about job losses and rogue bots sowing chaos online."

Data center developer holds town hall in Venango County; YourErie.com, September 23, 2026

 Jaxon Abele, YourErie.com; Data center developer holds town hall in Venango County

"In recent months, Keel Infrastructure, a digital and energy infrastructure company, has taken an interest in a small township near Clintonville in Venango County.

Eighteen months ago, the company bought a power plant in Scrubgrass Township along the Allegheny River, which was actively being used as a Bitcoin mine. Now, they aim to transform the site into a data center...

It’s a project that is still very much in its early phases. Brammer told us there is no official design for the center, but they hope to break ground in 2027 if the design is approved.

A permit has yet to be submitted, but the company is working on two other centers in Pennsylvania.

We asked people who live nearby what they think of the new development.

“I am concerned for the environmental impacts that this data center very well could have on the area. Personally, as a mother of two very young children — I’ve got a one-year-old and a three-year-old — and our health and wellbeing is my absolute number one priority,” said Carrie Worsk, Scrubgrass Township resident."

Americans’ views of data centers have turned more negative; Pew Research Center, September 22, 2026

 BRIAN KENNEDY, Pew Research Center; Americans’ views of data centers have turned more negative

"Americans have grown more negative toward the possible environmental and economic effects of data centers since the beginning of the year. And a majority say they’d be uncomfortable if a new data center started operating in their area, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

The survey comes as protests against new data center construction have spread, and as some state and local politicians have spoken out against data centers. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has been a vocal supporter of data centers. 

More than half of Americans (54%) now say data centers are mostly bad for the environment, up from 39% in January. Half say they are mostly bad for home energy costs, up from 38%. And 49% say they are mostly bad for people’s quality of life nearby, up from 30%. The new survey was conducted from July 20 to Aug. 9 among 10,548 U.S. adults.

Just 4% of Americans think data centers have a mostly good impact in each of these areas."

Forward Twp. Meeting Canceled After Large Crowd Opposes Data Center; Butler Radio, September 25, 2026

 Tyler Friel, Butler Radio; Forward Twp. Meeting Canceled After Large Crowd Opposes Data Center

"Forward Township canceled last night’s planning commission meeting after a large number of people attended in opposition of a proposed data center.

The planning commission had to reschedule their meeting after too many people showed up to safely fit into the meeting room in the building.

State Police, County Sheriff’s, and fire officials were all on location to inform the public the meeting could not happen due to safety concerns.

The data center has been proposed at the former Misty Hollow Farm on Prospect Road in Forward Township."

Steve Jones on the pros and cons of AI datacentres – cartoon; The Guardian, September 12, 2026

 Steve Jones, The Guardian; Steve Jones on the pros and cons of AI datacentres – cartoon

As Trump pushes for data centers, voters in key midterm races say they don’t want them; NBC News, September 6, 2026

 Jonathan Allen, Frank Thorp V and Marshall Crook, NBC News; As Trump pushes for data centers, voters in key midterm races say they don’t want them

An NBC News Decision Desk Poll found that 69% of respondents oppose building AI data centers in their areas, with 45% saying they “strongly oppose” the idea.

"Dawn Vogel, a Republican county supervisor in rural Buchanan County, Iowa, doesn’t have a lot in common with the leading democratic socialists in Congress. But on this bit of policy they agree: Data centers are proliferating across the American landscape too fast.

Vogel voted earlier this year for a moratorium that temporarily bans data centers from setting up shop in her heavily Republican county, which favored President Donald Trump 63% to 35% in 2024. In Washington, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. — the nation’s two most prominent democratic socialists — have proposed a similar moratorium that would cover the entire country.

“I don’t think this is a Republican or Democratic issue,” Vogel said on the sidelines of the Iowa State Association of Counties’ annual conference here in late August, adding that she hasn’t talked to a single voter at home who wants data centers."

The AI Backlash Gets Professional; The Atlantic, August 28, 2026

Matteo Wong, The Atlantic; The AI Backlash Gets Professional

"If there’s one thing America seems to agree on, it’s AI. Some three-quarters of Americans oppose a data center being built in their area,three-quarters of Americans think AI will hurt their job security, nearly70 percent think the technology is advancing too quickly—the polls go on. Progressive and Republican candidates alike are bashing the tech industry to win primary elections. States and cities are halting plans for data-center development.

Yet in cloistered San Francisco, where I live, staffers at OpenAI and Anthropic are developing this same feared technology at light speed and pulling down compensation packages that stretch to considerably more than $1 million. Silicon Valley’s growth is largely unencumbered by regulation, and President Trump’s administration has if anything used its authority to speed the AI industry along. The divide between these camps—the majority of people in this country who simply have to deal with the technology as it’s rolled out, and the much smaller population of people with direct influence over it—is adefining feature of this era. And so I noticed when a small group, with ties to both the Bay Area and Washington, started making noise, insisting that the AI race slow down and the technology be overseen not by executives and engineers, but by the broadest population possible."

Democrats in key House, Senate races sign AI regulation pledge amid data center scrutiny; The Hill, August 26, 2026

MAX REGO  , The Hill; Democrats in key House, Senate races sign AI regulation pledge amid data center scrutiny

"Eighteen House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates have signed a pledge to push for beefed-up regulations on the AI industry, as the rapidly evolving technology continues to impact Americans. 

The candidates, 17 Democrats and one independent — populist Dan Osborn, who is challenging Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts (Neb.) — agreed to back a five-pronged approach to artificial intelligence by signing the AI Pact."

Data centers’ ‘oh s--t’ moment; Politico, August 24, 2026

  GABBY MILLER and  OWEN DAHLKAMP, Politico; Data centers’ ‘oh s--t’ moment

"The intensifying late-summer backlash against data centers is inspiring panic among some corners of the tech sector — amid fears that the industry is mishandling a political crisis that will stretch into 2028 and beyond.

Those worries have deepened in recent weeks as politicians across the political spectrum embraced various curbs on data center construction, with Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, potential Democratic White House hopeful Josh Shapiro and Michigan GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers being among the latest to sign on...

“AI is going to be a massive issue for the presidential election in a way that technology has never been an issue,” a representative from a major AI company told POLITICO, adding: “Nobody wants to lose their job and they’re already feeling squeezed while these very, very rich people who are richer than anything we have ever seen in the history of Earth are making more. And I think people are sick and tired of that.”...

The swiftness and ferocity of the backlash has caught the tech industry on the backfoot, where it’s struggled to find an effective message that assuages voters’ worries that data centers will raise their power bills, hog their water supplies and blight the landscape. One result is the growing, bipartisan push for temporary moratoriums on data center construction, a cause that just months ago was mainly associated with progressive outliers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

The split inside the tech world is not hard to find.

“Some are viewing it as an ‘oh shit’ moment,” an AI industry advocate told POLITICO. “Others are brushing it off like it’s nothing, and those people have to get their heads out of their asses. This could go south for them, fast.”"

Ella Baron on AI and the drought – cartoon; The Guardian, August 23, 2026

 Ella Baron, The Guardian; Ella Baron on AI and the drought – cartoon

Voters Aren’t Waiting for November to Try Ousting Officials Over Data Centers; The New York Times, August 19, 2026

David McCabe, The New York Times ; Voters Aren’t Waiting for November to Try Ousting Officials Over Data Centers

As a backlash grows over data centers, more local officials are facing recall elections for their support of the computing sites.

"Some local officials have already lost their jobs in the face of data center concerns in regularly scheduled elections. Last year, two members of the Georgia Public Service Commission lost their seats amid concern about data centers’ driving up electricity prices. A Virginia state delegate, Geary Higgins, also lost his job last year after his opponent branded him “Data Center Geary.”

“People are standing up and saying, ‘Sorry, we don’t want these data centers in our communities for a number of reasons,’” Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said in an interview. “‘If you can’t have the guts to stand up to some large corporation, you should not continue serving in office.’”

Voters have little patience for politicians supporting data centers, said Amy Kremer, the chairwoman of Humans First, a conservative-leaning group promoting greater A.I. regulation. They will “step up and recall them and hold them accountable."

The Environmental Case Against Data Centers Is Misguided; The New York Times, July 25, 2026

 Adam Mastroianni, The New York Times ; The Environmental Case Against Data Centers Is Misguided

"I empathize with the environmental opposition to data center construction, but the arguments are shakier than they seem. The battle over where A.I. data centers are being built is really a battle over what role A.I. should play in our lives. And that’s a battle that critics can win."

Data centers have united Americans of both parties in a shared hatred; The Washington Post, July 18, 2026

 Shira Ovide , The Washington Post; Data centers have united Americans of both parties in a shared hatred

"Kyle Schmidt ticked through what makes him irate about the massive Google data center slated for construction about a mile away from his home near Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

He didn’t like that residents were kept in the dark about what would be built on a pristine tract of mostly forested land. He’s worried about the data center’s potential impact on the community’s water supply and on the dream home that his family moved into last year.

But Schmidt said what really bothers him is the powerlessness he felt as the project advanced and elected officials, Google representatives and bigwig data center backers belittled or misled people who raised concerns...

Opposition in both red and blue regions continued to build to the point where he has tracked about 65 state data center restrictions enacted since the start of 2025, and dozens of cities that have imposed temporary halts to data center development. This week, New York became the first state in the nation to impose a temporary pause on large new data center projects...

Tech giants and other data center backers have been caught off guard by the rapid rise of public opposition, arguing that the hubs are essential for modern digital services and to keep the United States ahead of China on AI."

‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres; The Guardian, June 29, 2026

Zoe Williams, The Guardian; ‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres

"Some of the emails Brockovich gets from people near datacentres express genuine bafflement: “Why did I not know about this? How did this construction just start? Why am I now getting a notice from the city council that this has already passed when I didn’t even have a voice in it?” Others reflect concerns about the impact of the centres: “What about our resources? What’s happening to the water? Who’s paying for all this energy and am I going to foot that bill? What will the future impact on health be from these monstrosities? What’s going to happen to the wildlife?”"