Voters in 10 States Backed Restrictions on Data Centers or Rejected Projects in 40 of 41 Local Ballot Measures, Fox Business Reports, Citing Ballotpedia and CNBC
Fox Business says the vote ran against AI data center expansion across party lines, with Ohio towns passing limits by wide margins. OpenAI said it will pay the full cost of powering its own data centers. The industry says the projects bring jobs and tax revenue.
Local voters put the AI building boom on the ballot Tuesday, and Fox Business says the answer was mostly no.
The count. Fox says an analysis by Ballotpedia, with results compiled by CNBC, found voters in 10 states backed restrictions or rejected pro-development measures in all but one of 41 local measures. It adds that The Washington Post separately counted at least 38 jurisdictions that passed measures limiting or blocking data centers.
Ohio. Fox lists unofficial results. Defiance voters approved a charter amendment restricting data center construction 64.73 percent to 35.27 percent. Pataskala approved a related amendment 73.62 to 26.38, and Granville 82.45 to 17.55. In Ashville, 81.61 percent voted against a data center referendum. The outlier was Harwood, North Dakota, where about three quarters of voters rejected proposed limits on industrial development, according to the Post.
The statewide races. Fox says Democrat Gina Hinojosa beat Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas after campaigning on a moratorium on new data centers. Ohio elected Democrat Amy Acton, who supports a moratorium and tighter rules, and Georgia's Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms made accountability for developers a central theme. We reported earlier on the Texas result and what it could mean for planned projects.
The polling. A Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos poll before the vote found seven in 10 Americans, including a majority of Republicans, opposed new data centers in their communities. The Post also cited an Election Day poll in which 56 percent called AI and data centers a major or crucial factor, though it ranked last of five issues, behind corruption, the Iran war and cost of living.
The industry's side. Dan Diorio of the Data Center Coalition said these projects create jobs, local tax revenue and investment, and that the industry is committed to "energy reliability and affordability." Fox says more than 145 projects were delayed or canceled through early August, according to S&P Global figures cited by the Post, with public opposition behind most of them.
OpenAI's move. Fox reports OpenAI said Thursday it will pay the full cost of powering data centers it owns and operates, ask for community input, publish construction plans and avoid nondisclosure agreements with public officials. The company says the blueprint was in development since August.
Why it matters here. The issue cuts across party lines and ties into electricity bills, which voters named as a worry. The listed reasons in Fox's account are power costs, land use and local control.
What we could not check. The Ohio numbers are unofficial. We did not review the Ballotpedia or CNBC data or the Post's tally, and Fox does not say how the 41 measures were chosen.