# Why Americans are rejecting data center expansion

> A new study reveals the diverse coalition opposing AI infrastructure projects, from NIMBYs to environmental groups to people who simply don't trust Big Tech.
- Title: Why Americans are rejecting data center expansion · TechCrunch
- Summary: A new study reveals the diverse coalition opposing AI infrastructure projects, from NIMBYs to environmental groups to people who simply don't trust Big Tech…
- Keywords: data centers, ai infrastructure, pennsylvania, public opposition, environmental concerns, corporate trust, local resistance, industrial development, trade unions, data center coalition, technology, startups
- Source: TechCrunch — https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/22/everyone-can-find-a-reason-to-dislike-data-center-construction
- Author: Tim Fernholz
- Published: 2026-09-22T13:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: data centers, ai infrastructure, pennsylvania, public opposition, environmental concerns, corporate trust, local resistance, industrial development, trade unions, data center coalition, technology, startups
## AI labs bet trillions on data centers
Frontier AI companies are investing trillions of dollars in data center projects, convinced that scaling computation is the path to improving artificial intelligence.
## Most Americans want to limit them
Over 60% of Americans favor limiting new data centers, particularly in their own communities, and that opposition is growing fast.
## 68 billion in projects disrupted
Data center projects worth 68 billion dollars were disrupted by local opponents in the second quarter of 2026, according to Data Center Watch.
## Pennsylvania's industrial trauma
A new Data and Society report based on 18 months of fieldwork in Pennsylvania found that residents are skeptical of utopian industrial promises, given their history with coal, oil, steel, and fracking.

> People in Pennsylvania especially have incredible experience with industrial change, have deep lineages of industrial trauma, enough to sniff when things don't feel right to them.
## Governor flipped on data centers
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro celebrated 90 billion dollars in data center investment in July 2025, but a year later signed an order imposing new requirements and removing them from regulatory fast-track status.
## Unions back projects for jobs
Trade unions are perhaps the greatest source of support for data center projects, seeing them as a lifeline to rebuild membership despite acknowledging they won't be major employment sources once built.
## Industry runs its own campaign
Rather than foreign interference, researchers found that AI boosters like the Data Center Coalition run their own influence campaign, spending at least 19,000 dollars lobbying Pennsylvania and creating websites to boost projects.
## Opposition is post-partisan
The resistance to data centers comes from an unlikely coalition: NIMBYs, AI skeptics, environmental groups, and people concerned about power bills, property values, and corporate secrecy.

> We don't want to romanticize that everyone is having this kumbaya moment, [but AI is] forcing people to be in conversation together about futures that they want.
## Material concerns drive opposition
People worry that data center electrical usage will raise their power bills, drive down property values, and that companies use tactics like non-disclosure agreements to bypass community input.
## Trust is the real problem
The patchwork of concerns means there's no simple fix for the industry. The core issue is that people don't trust tech companies, especially when they're inserting themselves into intimate parts of daily life.

> It is an intimate and relational trust that is now being inserted in people's lives by these industries.
## Key takeaway

Data center opposition isn't driven by a single concern but by a patchwork of material interests and deep distrust of tech companies, making it nearly impossible for the industry to address all grievances at once.