Since 2023, state and local governments across the US have passed more than 300 restrictions or outright bans on data center construction — and over 275 of those came in 2026 alone. The backlash is fiercest in the Midwest and South, where tech giants are racing to build massive AI computing facilities.
In Michigan, OpenAI and Oracle ran into trouble building their Stargate supercomputer cluster. The state offers tax breaks through 2050 for data centers investing over $250 million and creating more than 30 jobs, but Saline Township voted to block a zoning change for Stargate. The Stargate team sued, won, and broke ground on June 1, 2026. The ripple effect: more than 20 towns within 50 miles of the project have passed data center bans, and over 50 restrictive zones exist across the state.
Polls show that a staggering 70% of US adults oppose having an AI data center built in their community. The top concerns: water consumption, rising electricity bills, and landscape disruption. The resistance crosses political lines. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have jointly proposed a federal ban, while the right-wing conservative group Humans First is organizing protests in multiple states.
Most restrictions last one month to a year, but more than a dozen areas — including New Jersey — have made bans permanent. At the state level, New York's Assembly passed a one-year ban bill awaiting Governor Kathy Hochul's signature; Maine's governor vetoed a similar measure. Meanwhile, Ohio, Illinois, and Arizona have suspended tax incentives for data center developers in 2026.