WASHINGTON — Voters across the United States delivered a verdict in Tuesday's primary elections: back AI data centers and face the consequences. Incumbents who championed the projects lost, driven by public anger over rising power bills, pollution and deals cut without community input.
Utah Senate leader Stuart Adams lost his primary, a defeat directly tied to a data center deal he had championed. His ouster is the clearest sign yet that support for these projects carries real electoral risk.
Opposition has spread well beyond Utah. Communities have enacted more than 500 local bans on new AI data center construction. Authorities have made nearly 40 arrests this year during protests against the facilities.
President Donald Trump's July 2025 executive order sought to speed construction of AI infrastructure by easing federal regulatory requirements on the facilities.
Many projects are advancing with limited public scrutiny. An estimated 1,500 data centers are currently in development; 67 percent are planned for areas outside urban centers.
Voters cite soaring power costs as a central grievance. Federal data shows residential electricity prices jumped at double the inflation rate in 2025, topping 20 percent in some states, with AI data centers identified as a major contributing factor.
The facilities strain water supplies and electric grids. In Mississippi, dozens of unpermitted gas turbines power xAI's Colossus 2 data center, releasing smog-forming pollution. Memphis faces a parallel problem with 35 unpermitted temporary gas turbines that residents say worsen existing health conditions.
People living near the sites report a choking stench and rising asthma rates. Companies routinely require nondisclosure agreements that bar public officials from disclosing water use, energy demand or infrastructure costs.
The financial terms add to public frustration. Companies secure tax breaks that shift water and power costs to local taxpayers. Residents also complain that construction jobs go to out-of-state workers and that the facilities support few permanent positions.
xAI, the company controlled by Elon Musk, has faced legal challenges over its operations. The company also sued to block a Minnesota law that banned using AI to generate sexualized images of minors—a move that drew fresh criticism from voters already hostile to the industry.
The industry frequently invokes national security to justify rapid expansion. Critics counter that some technologies deployed alongside these facilities, including Flock surveillance cameras, have prompted their own public backlash and, in some cases, physical removal by residents.
