A public-comment analysis of data center development compiles 10,202 remarks from 417 local governments in 2026, alongside videos and interactive maps. Its central finding is strong opposition: 90.5% of comments opposed data centers, 7% supported them, and 2.5% asked questions. Supporters were absent from 73% of meetings; where they did speak, opponents outnumbered them six to one. The figures describe people who chose to comment, not a representative measure of all Americans, but show how heated local debates have become.
Water use was the most common concern, appearing in 36% of comments, followed by quality of life and lack of transparency. Eighty-eight percent of comments raised multiple concerns. Speakers also questioned company motives and promised community benefits, while claims of corruption were frequent but mostly false. Only 21% mentioned AI, and major technology companies were named 4.3 times as often as AI labs. Opposition was similarly high in Democratic- and Republican-voting counties, though their concerns differed: rural residents more often cited farmland, property rights, and community character, while urban and suburban residents raised transparency, distrust, pollution, and utility bills. Union workers stood out as the only group mostly in favor. Local-government discussion of data centers rose about 22-fold from early 2022 to the third quarter of 2026.
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