After U.S. midterm elections, data center expansion faces resistance: 76% of voters oppose building data centers in their communities

TechFlow news, Nov. 05: According to The Verge, U.S. midterm election results show that data center expansion is facing greater political resistance. NBC News Election Day polls showed that 76% of surveyed voters oppose building data centers in their communities. Nationwide, 45 local referendums involved data center development; as of the morning of Nov. 04, 33 referendum results supported limiting data center construction.

On local referendums, Wells, Maine, voted to support a 180-day construction moratorium on large data centers, while multiple cities in Ohio voted to prohibit data centers with power capacity exceeding 25 MW. In addition, Texas governor-elect Gina Hinojosa and Michigan senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed both support a moratorium on data center development. The report noted that as community opposition rises, U.S. data center construction may face stricter permitting and regulatory restrictions.

Source: TechFlow