Study: Data Center Backlash Blocked $130B in US Projects During Q1 2026
Opposition and new state proposals pushed the total to a record 75 delayed or blocked projects worth about $130 billion, researchers said.
- Data Center Watch, a project of 10a Labs, reported that opponents blocked or delayed at least 75 projects nationwide worth about $130 billion from January through March, marking the most in any three-month period since tracking began in 2023.
- Active grassroots opposition groups more than doubled from 396 at the end of 2025 to 833 by March, as communities internalized an effective opposition playbook amid formal regulatory uncertainty introduced by legislative sessions.
- A Gallup poll found 70 percent of Americans oppose local data-center construction, while lawmakers introduced more than 300 bills in state legislatures during the first six weeks of 2026, fueling legislative momentum nationwide.
- New York state lawmakers approved a moratorium on large data-center construction, establishing a three-month waiting period before the Department of Environmental Conservation will issue permits, certificates, registrations, or licenses.
- Sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom noted that data-center resistance is crossing political divides, as regulatory uncertainty could extend developers' timelines well into 2028, fundamentally reshaping the industry's deployment strategy.
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Report: $130 Billion Worth of Data Center Projects Blocked in Q1 2026
Data Center Watch chalked up the increase to a higher number of active opposition groups, legislation creating regulatory uncertainty, and communities now having a 'playbook' for opposition.
Grassroots groups blocked 75 data center projects worth $130 billion in Q1 2026
Grassroots opposition to data center construction in the United States has reached a scale that is starting to reshape where and whether the AI industry can build. A new report from Data Center Watch, a tracker maintained by AI research firm 10a Labs, found that activists blocked or delayed at least 75 projects worth a […] This story continues at The Next Web
Construction halted or delayed worth 200 trillion won in the first quarter alone due to opposition to data centers. It has been revealed that the number of delayed AI data center construction cases in the U.S. reached an all-time high last quarter. Data Center Watch, a research organization that tracks public opposition to data centers, reported that data center projects in the first quarter of this year...
Special session needed to address data centers
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