Data Center Watch, a group funded by the data center industry, reports that as of the first quarter of 2026, there are 833 active community groups opposing data centers across 49 U.S. states, up from 396 at the end of 2025. This surge in local opposition has led to an estimated $130 billion in blocked or delayed investments in data center projects, roughly the same as the entire previous year. While no official count of moratoriums exists, estimates range from 76 communities that have adopted or attempted to adopt such measures to as many as 500, depending on how the figures are counted. These numbers include not only actual moratoriums but also zoning restrictions, public referendums, and proposed legislation. Residents across the U.S. have increasingly taken direct action against data centers, which are large facilities housing servers used for internet and cloud computing services. In Wilmington, Ohio, after Amazon Web Services announced a $4 billion project near a residential area, local residents drafted a 33-page zoning regulation, filed several federal appeals, and ensured that four referendums aimed at overturning municipal decisions would be included on the November 2026 ballot. Quintin Koger Kidd, one of the organizers and a computer scientist, emphasized that the issue is about land use rather than technology, highlighting concerns about the local impact of such facilities, including their energy consumption and the secrecy surrounding project details. At the state level, responses have varied. New York established the first national moratorium in July 2026, suspending the approval of new data centers with a power draw of 50 megawatts or more for one year. Texas requested a suspension of connection permits until an audit of applications submitted to the grid manager. Pennsylvania banned the use of confidentiality agreements for future projects, while Maine’s governor opposed a similar moratorium, acknowledging that a pause might be justified based on the experiences of other states. In North Dakota, a ban on confidentiality agreements was rejected by a narrow margin, and in Minnesota, a bipartisan bill was blocked in committee. The debate over data centers has also become a significant topic in political campaigns. More than $45 million has been spent on campaign ads mentioning data centers since January 2026, with both major parties investing roughly equally. In Ohio, the race for governor has highlighted this issue, with both the Republican candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the Democratic candidate, Amy Acton, supporting some form of pause on new data center installations. However, both candidates hold shares in companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon, which are key players in the data center industry. This conflict has moved beyond local referendums and into the courts, with several legal challenges being brought before the Ohio Supreme Court. The outcome of the November 3, 2026, elections, and the subsequent decisions at the state and federal levels, will likely determine the future of data center development in the U.S.