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Democrats Take Congress as Voters Back 33 Data Center Curbs in US Midterms
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At least 33 communities approved restrictions on data centers during the midterms. Democrats seized control of both chambers of Congress.
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Midterms turn AI into liability
Voters in at least 33 US communities backed restrictions on data centres in Tuesday’s midterm elections, as Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress amid anger over electricity bills and the AI infrastructure boom. Only one local measure, in North Dakota, went the way of those supporting construction, according to the tracker Data Centers on the Ballot, as reported by Stateline. Trenton, Ohio voters passed a ban on data centres above 25MW with 80% of the vote, according to unofficial results reported by WVXU.
The ban blocks the city’s plan to annex around 600 acres for a 1,000MW Amazon data centre campus, and the AWS project could still proceed if the land stays in the surrounding townships. An NBC News exit poll found 56% of voters said AI and data centres were a crucial or major factor in their vote for Congress.
Governors promise pauses
Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated governor Greg Abbott in Texas after campaigning for a pause on new projects until the state adopts tougher rules, CNBC reported.
Hinojosa dismissed Abbott’s approach as an “election year stunt,” while she promised in the run up to the election to impose a moratorium on data center construction and eliminate subsidies and tax breaks awarded to major data center developers.
In Ohio, Democrat Dr. Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and backed a conditional moratorium: new data centres would have to cover all of their utility costs, use union labor and build on old industrial sites rather than farmland.
In Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms beat Republican businessman Rick Jackson and sought a statewide pause on new data center construction to study the effect on power bills, water supplies and communities.
Scripps News said voters made their power bills a ballot issue in Tuesday’s midterm elections, and it tied the shift to pausing or reining in the massive data centers that power artificial intelligence.
What comes next for AI
Wall Street focused on whether Democratic control of Congress would translate into new limits on where data centres can be built and how much say local communities have.
Nadine Smith, president and CEO of Color of Change, called Tuesday’s election a referendum on “who this economy is built for,” and she linked the issue to “families in South Memphis breathing exhaust from the gas turbines powering an AI supercomputer.”
The TechCrunch account said Democratic control of Congress could improve the odds for bills like the one Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced earlier this year, including a nationwide moratorium on new data centres until Congress adds new guardrails.
The same TechCrunch report said Goldman Sachs predicted data center construction delays in states like Georgia and Texas because of Democratic gains.
Capacity Media said the restrictions that passed or were leading late on Tuesday ranged from outright bans and temporary moratoriums to energy-use caps and requirements for a public vote before construction.