GoKawiilThe public pushback against data center construction projects is only growing stronger, even as some protesting local residents have been arrested in the process. That hasn't perturbed those still standing against the AI infrastructure projects, though, and they continue showing up at town meetings, holding protest rallies, and making themselves heard — even with the 24/7 drone of a data center hum in the background.
The latest effort saw Nashville residents and local politicians move to block the construction of a $700 million data center set to be built right next to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. The city council approved a blocking measure last week, and now Mayor Freddie O'Connell will wield it to make sure the project doesn't go ahead.
This follows on from another recent story where a Kentucky farming family was offered 10 times their land value to sell up to data center developers, and they refused. Virginia's State Corporation Commission, which regulates public utilities, just ruled that data centers must pay for all the required transmission infrastructure that they have exclusive use of, in an effort to reduce energy bills for residents.
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Nobody wants to live near a data center
Data center projects have been firmly disliked by large bodies of Americans since the beginning of this major AI buildout. Early in 2025, it became clear that even as the major AI companies were promising hundreds of billions for "AI factories," governments around the world rushed to build capacity. There was only one problem: residents near the proposed build sites would not be taking it lying down.
In April 2025, Elon Musk's Colossus data center was an early target for protest after it was found to be using permitless mobile gas turbines for power. It's been hit with enough pushback since then that SpaceX has now agreed to remove the 69 turbines it ultimately installed, although it is going to take over a year to complete the move of these allegedly mobile turbines.
By the Fall of last year, evidence had begun to mount about the negative impact of these installations. Water shortages and potential contamination, electricity price increases for residents, and the constant, unending noise that may be causing health problems with sub-audible frequencies.
There's also the slowly growing number of "against" voices in polling for new data centers. What started as a light advantage to the "supports" respondents in September became a near-majority a few months later. Now more than 70% of Americans don't want data centers near their homes, and there's little chance of that changing as the stories of issues during and after construction of these facilities continue to mount.
How the people are fighting back
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