A new report from the Brookings Institution warns that growing local opposition to AI data center projects across the United States could significantly slow the expansion of critical infrastructure needed for artificial intelligence development. The report highlights a rising "techlash" against the AI sector, fueled by community concerns over electricity consumption, water usage, environmental impact, and the use of tax abatements.
The scale of the challenge is substantial. In 2024 alone, U.S. data centers consumed approximately 183 terawatt-hours of electricity—an amount roughly equivalent to Pakistan's entire annual energy demand. This massive energy footprint, coupled with substantial water needs for cooling, has sparked protests and organized opposition in communities from Ohio and Georgia to Virginia, Arizona, and Indiana. These concerns have even influenced recent elections in states like New Jersey, Virginia, and Georgia.
The Brookings authors argue that data centers are both "controversial and essential" to the digital economy. They caution that without a sufficient number of these facilities, "the digital revolution could potentially stall," limiting access to AI benefits for individuals, communities, governments, and corporations. If local concerns remain unaddressed, the report warns of slowed data center construction, weakened AI growth, and curtailed revenue streams for the tech industry.
A key solution proposed is the implementation of legally binding Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs). These agreements, developed cooperatively with host communities, would define costs, subsidies, tax revenues, and set enforceable commitments for job creation, resource use, and pollution controls upfront. The goal is to create greater transparency and reciprocity between developers and communities. The report cites Cleveland as an example, which has used CBAs for economic development since 2013.
This local resistance emerges against a backdrop of aggressive public and private sector expansion. In January 2025, the Trump administration announced "Stargate," a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative backed by OpenAI and Oracle, which included calls for long-term community safeguards. Privately, tech giants like Amazon and Nvidia have announced multibillion-dollar investments, adding to a global network of roughly 10,700 data centers, with nearly 4,000 located in the U.S.
Some developers are already responding cautiously to the backlash. Applied Digital (formerly Applied Blockchain) began construction on a 430 MW plant in the Southern U.S. in late January but has not disclosed the specific site, with its CEO citing a desire to protect the small host community from premature "national media attention." The fundamental tension remains: data centers are critical for AI progress, but building them without community support creates significant obstacles.
