Overview
- The Milltown Partners poll reported June 22 surveyed 6,872 registered voters between May 10 and May 20 and found 49% support a temporary ban on new data‑center construction with a 3 percentage‑point margin of error.
- Only 8% of respondents who oppose data centers said they know of one near their home, indicating most opposition comes from broader concern about AI rather than direct local experience.
- Voters cited concrete local worries as reasons for pushback, including higher energy bills (67% flagged this) and fears that AI gains will flow mainly to corporations (59% raised this), while views on siting were split with 38% willing to host a center and 34% opposed.
- The political and regulatory fallout is already tangible: public pressure has delayed hundreds of projects, jurisdictions have proposed more than 120 moratoriums, and watchdogs reported major project disruptions worth billions in recent months.
- Industry actors are responding with concrete steps such as workforce training programs, corporate pledges to cut water use and new automation tools like robots for data‑center tasks, even as firms press ahead with large investment plans.