Most Data Center Bans Are in Metro Areas, Despite More Facilities Heading for Rural Areas

A new accounting of local data center policy finds that while most bans on the facilities so far have passed in metropolitan areas, two-thirds of new data centers are actually planned for rural communities. Researchers tracking Facebook opposition groups counted 580 active groups with more than 640,000 members combined, up sharply from earlier this year.

Of nearly 700 bans and moratoriums identified nationwide, only a quarter are rural, even though rural areas face unique organizing barriers including news deserts and thin project transparency. In Wiscasset, Maine, a proposed 180-day moratorium follows a scrapped $5 billion data center deal that reportedly derailed federal affordable-housing funding for the town.

Democratic governors in New York and Pennsylvania have signed executive orders restricting data center projects, and Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock has called for a statewide moratorium at the site of a proposed 3.2-gigawatt facility. Southern clean energy advocates are pushing for an 18-month regional pause, arguing developers are moving fast with little regard for local input.

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