The views of Americans towards data centers have grown increasingly negative, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. More than half of Americans (54%) now say data centers are mostly bad for the environment, up from 39% in January. Half say they are mostly bad for home energy costs, up from 38%. And 49% say they are mostly bad for people’s quality of life nearby, up from 30%. The survey was conducted from July 20 to Aug. 9 among 10,548 U.S. adults.
Only 4% of Americans believe data centers have a mostly good impact in each of these areas. The concern is particularly high in rural U.S, where many data center projects are currently planned or under development. In January, 32% of rural Americans said data centers were mostly bad for the environment. This has risen to 50% by July. The share of rural Americans who view data centers as mostly bad for home energy costs rose from 32% in January to 46% in August. There has been a similar shift in urban and suburban America.
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Views on how data centers impact local tax revenue and jobs are mixed. Similar shares (between 21% and 24%) say data centers are mostly good and mostly bad for these things.
Since January, there have been increases of 9 percentage points in the shares of Americans who say data centers are mostly bad for local jobs (from 15% to 24%) and local tax revenue (from 12% to 21%).
The survey also noted that both Democrats and Republicans have a somewhat more negative view of the impact of AI data centers on local jobs and tax revenue, compared to the start of the year. However, many people in both partisan groups either say that they’re not sure or that the effects are neither good nor bad.
More Democrats now say the effects of data centers in these two areas are mostly bad than mostly good, while more Republicans believe the opposite. However, Republicans are now seven percentage points more likely than they were in January to say data centers are mostly bad for local jobs and local tax revenue.
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The growing public concern is also reflected in the actions of lawmakers. While President Donald Trump continues to support data centers, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who had previously supported expansion, issued a statewide moratorium on new data centers in August.
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order that would require local community approval before the state grants them permits to build, despite previously positioning his state as a hub for data centers. Meanwhile in Michigan, Republican Mike Rogers voiced support of a one-year moratorium on building new data centers, possibly putting him on par with his progressive Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed, who called for stricter standards on data center impacts throughout his campaign and later endorsed state and local moratoriums until Congress can enact national standards.