Data center boom sparks local resistance across U.S.
Tech companies are racing to build data centers in small towns across America to support AI infrastructure, but communities are pushing back over environmental concerns and rising electricity costs.
In Archbald, Pennsylvania-a town of 7,000 in the northeast where coal mining once dominated-residents are organizing against six proposed data center projects. At a March 10 borough meeting, community members held signs reading "No data centers" and told developers to leave.
Kayleigh Cornell, a teacher, and Sarah Gabriel, an ICU nurse, lead the neighborhood association fighting the expansion. "It's gonna just completely change the landscape," Gabriel said. "Anywhere there's trees, there's probably not going to be any any longer."
One application for a campus of 18 data centers has stalled. But the pressure to build continues. Tech companies need these massive facilities-some over one million square feet-to run AI systems. Developers target towns with abundant land, water, and electrical power.
The economics and politics
Data center operators argue the projects create jobs and tax revenue. Andy Power, president and CEO of Digital Realty, which operates hundreds of data centers globally, said the sector represents "breakthroughs that cure new diseases" and improves quality of life.
Senator Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican, supports data center investment in his state. He called American leadership in AI "the most important question facing our country" and said the net benefit for Pennsylvania is "enormous."
McCormick proposed a framework where developers commit to job creation, environmental protection, and keeping energy costs stable. "When a community looks at the totality of the jobs, the tax revenue, the new roads, the libraries, the schools, the opportunity of jobs for their kids, I think these are pretty compelling," he said.
But critics in Congress want to slow expansion. Last month, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, calling for a pause on construction until Congress enacts tougher AI regulations.
Sanders said, "I fear that Congress is totally unprepared for the magnitude of the changes that are already taking place."
A national trend
More than 4,000 data centers already operate across the country, with thousands more planned. Loudoun County, Virginia-known as "Data Center Alley"-hosts anonymous, warehouse-like buildings throughout the region.
In Archbald, residents remain determined to fight. Cornell said the projects would "intrinsically change the character" of the town. Gabriel added that the industry's newness and lack of regulation make the rapid expansion risky. "If we just keep moving forward, we're gonna get to, like, a point of no return," she said.
For operations professionals managing infrastructure and supply chain decisions, understanding data center expansion-and community resistance to it-is becoming essential. AI for Operations and AI Learning Path for Operations Managers cover the infrastructure requirements and resource management implications shaping this sector.
Your membership also unlocks:
