US Voters Pass Data Center Curbs in 29+ Jurisdictions Tuesday

Voters in at least 29 US jurisdictions passed bans or other restrictions on data centers Tuesday, The Washington Post reports, out of 41 data center-related measures on the ballot across ten states. By late Tuesday, 33 had passed or were leading in ongoing counts. Only one measure, in North Dakota, broke for the industry.

Ohio carried the night. Residents in 18 municipalities voted on 21 measures, more than half the national total, and at least 14 passed restrictions, adding to the roughly 125 local moratoriums already on the books statewide. In Trenton the ban passed 80% to 20%. In Perry, more than 87% of voters approved a financial guarantee requirement.

The measures were not uniform. They ranged from outright prohibitions to temporary moratoriums, caps on energy use, requirements that any new facility get voter approval, and advisory resolutions telling local officials to push back.

The industry had already read the room. The Post reports that 'Microsoft, Google and Amazon say they are dropping contract provisions that required local officials to keep early phases of data center projects secret from residents,' and that OpenAI now calls its projects 'compute campuses' in public pitches. OpenAI's chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane told Axios the new framing 'more accurately describes the scale and role of its infrastructure and sounds a bit friendlier to neighboring communities.'

The commercial damage predates the vote. S&P Global counted more than 145 US data center projects delayed or canceled through early August, and said the vast majority were driven by public opposition. Polling echoes it. A Quinnipiac survey put opposition to a nearby AI data center at 73%, Pew found 54% consider the facilities environmentally harmful, and in Ohio an ICAPP/SurveyUSA poll of 1,650 adults showed 55% opposed and 22% in favor.

This is our third tracked story on the Tuesday results today.