More than 3,000 data centers already operate across the United States, with another 1,500 proposed, as tech giants race to build the physical infrastructure for artificial intelligence. These vast industrial warehouses, packed with power-hungry computer chips, have become a flashpoint in midterm elections and sparked a rare bipartisan backlash from rural communities to desert towns, uniting residents around concerns over electricity costs, water scarcity, and transparent governance.
The scale of new AI data centers dwarfs previous generations. Michael Webber, a professor at the University of Texas who advises tech companies on energy and water, told 60 Minutes that a large facility two years ago might have drawn five megawatts. "A new data center for AI might be 1,000 megawatts. It's, like, 200 times larger," Webber said. Meta, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are expected to spend a combined $1.5 trillion on data center construction through next year.
Local resistance crosses party lines
In Red Oak, Texas, Jazmin Villegas, a Marine veteran and mother of five, discovered a data center campus nearly three times the size of a nearby facility would be built next to her farm. She became a central figure in the opposition. "Just because I'm not in uniform doesn't mean that my service to this country has ended," Villegas said. "How do I know that these chemicals or this pollution, water, air, noise, isn't going to affect my community?"
Her neighbor Dave Lowe, a lifelong conservative Republican, said the issue has changed how he votes. "This is the first time in my adult life where there's been an issue that's come up that I feel like is going to directly impact me," Lowe said. "I'm going to vote for the candidate that is willing to speak up, and put up, and do something to help us with this issue." Polling shows more than 60% of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats agree they do not want a data center built where they live.
In Loudoun County, Virginia - home to the world's highest concentration of data centers - electricity bills have surged. In Chandler, Arizona, residents question water use for cooling in a state with a shrinking supply. In Red Oak, construction traffic clogs rural roads for miles before dawn, and residents accuse the city council of approving projects without transparency.
Developers and secrecy in rural counties
In Hood County, 70 miles west of Red Oak, Commissioner Dave Eagle encountered what he described as a pattern of obscured proposals. Projects arrived under code names - Project Yellow, Project Red, Project Lion - and one out-of-state developer declined to name the company behind a pitch that Eagle said tried to "razzle-dazzle" him. Two months later, he learned Amazon Web Services was the backer, requesting up to 90% in property tax rebates for 30 years. Eagle voted no. "There's no way I'd do that," he said.
The AWS project moved forward in the next county, where it secured the rebate. In a statement to 60 Minutes, Amazon said it "ultimately decided to not build in Hood County" and that where it invests, it works with local leaders to create jobs and generate public revenue. Compass Datacenters, the developer behind the Red Oak project, said it has worked with the community for more than five years on priorities including closed-loop water systems and grid investments that do not shift costs to residents.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who previously touted the state as "the centerpiece for AI data centers for Google in the entire world," paused new data center approvals in August pending an audit of the state's power grid. A spokesperson said Abbott's position is that "Texans come first" and that projects must pay for their own electricity infrastructure, avoid taking community water or residential power, and not raise costs for families.
Why this matters for executives and operations leaders
The backlash against data centers signals a structural risk for any organization scaling AI infrastructure. Local permitting, tax incentives, and utility agreements are no longer routine - they are becoming contested political terrain. Companies that fail to engage communities early, disclose project details, and negotiate transparently will face organized opposition that can delay or kill projects, regardless of the economic promises. For real estate and construction professionals, the speed of deployment now depends as much on local political strategy as on engineering timelines. Government affairs teams should expect data center siting to remain a live election issue, with moratoriums and audit requirements spreading beyond Texas.
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