64 Percent of Americans Oppose Rapid Data Center Expansion, Reuters Poll Finds

A Reuters and Ipsos poll found that 64 percent of Americans disapprove of the rapid pace of data center construction, citing concerns over electricity costs, land use, and environmental impact.

The findings reflect growing public pushback against the AI infrastructure boom, which is driving massive increases in power consumption and water use across the United States and globally.

Data centers now consume approximately 2 to 3 percent of global electricity, a figure that is expected to double or triple by 2030 as AI workloads expand. In some regions, data center construction has strained local power grids and driven up electricity costs for residential customers.

Community opposition has forced companies to experiment with new designs and locations. China has deployed a wind-powered underwater data center, and Meta has used rapid-deployment "tent" structures to accelerate compute capacity while reducing the time needed for traditional construction.

Maine froze new data center approvals earlier in 2026 after local opposition blocked $18 billion in AI projects. Similar pushback has occurred in Virginia, Texas, and several European countries.

"The industry is losing public support," said Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman in comments reported by tech news outlets. "We need to do a better job of explaining the benefits and addressing the legitimate concerns about power and water use."

Water use is a particular concern. Data centers use large amounts of water for cooling, and in drought-prone regions, this can create conflicts with agricultural and residential users.

Google has made new water-replenishment commitments, pledging to restore more water to local watersheds than its data centers consume. Microsoft and Amazon have made similar pledges.

Regulators are also increasing oversight. The U.S. is applying existing environmental frameworks to data center permitting, and the EU has introduced energy efficiency requirements for large data centers.

The poll results suggest that the AI industry will need to invest more in community engagement and environmental mitigation if it wants to maintain the social license to expand its infrastructure.