Data Center Opposition Gets Ugly
UPDATE An Indiana politician said he and his son were awakened on Monday when someone fired 13 shots at their front door, leaving behind a note reading “No Data Centers” on their doorstep. Indianapolis councilman Ron Gibson said he and his 8-year-old son weren’t harmed in the incident that occurred around 12:45 a.m., but the bullets struck just steps from the dining room table where his son had played the day before, the Associated Press reported.
The incident comes as data centers have emerged as a target for extremists motivated by a range of anti-tech, anti-government and pro-environment narratives, according to Jordyn Abrams, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. Though the details behind the latest incident are not yet clear, Abrams told the AP local conversations around data centers have increasingly made them a symbol for grievances spanning the political spectrum.
Concerns include the data centers’ massive energy consumption and water usage, which consumer advocates fear could drive up electric rates and deplete wells. Data center developers also can strike confidential power deals with local utilities that are profitable for utilities, making it unclear whether center operators are paying for their electricity or are foisting costs onto ratepayers, consumer advocates warn, according to the AP.
Last week, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission approved a rezoning petition for a project for Metrobloks, a data center developer, in Gibson’s district. They propose building a 14-acre, 75MW data center. The $500 million proposal has faced fierce opposition from local residents who believe that it will harm the environment and place undue stress on the city’s resources, according to Datacenter Dynamics.
Gibson supported the commission’s decision in a statement last week. “The site has remained underutilized for years, and today’s action is an important step toward bringing it back into productive use in a way that benefits both the surrounding neighborhood and our city,” Gibson said.
Gibson is not the only local official in America who has been targeted for their stance towards data centers. In December 2025, councilwoman Amy Drake of the St. Joseph County Council in New Carlisle, Indiana, claimed that her family was ‘swatted’ whilst she was attending a data center meeting. This January, Troy, IL resident Anthony Hinojosa was arrested after he threatened to use a firearm to kill City of Troy officials or contractors who were considering a data center proposal put forth by Cloverleaf Infrastructure, Datacenter Dynamics reported.
The strength of this opposition has become a problem for local authorities in support of data center developments and the developers themselves. Mitigating and gauging local opposition has become an increasingly important consideration. For example, last month, Microsoft said it would no longer ask local governments to sign NDAs regarding its data center projects, addressing criticisms that NDAs were obfuscating the planning process and preventing locals from knowing the identity of an end-user or developer.
As communities’ concerns grow over rising electricity prices and the environmental effects of data centers, some local and state officials want to halt development of the facilities, reports Stateline.org.
Lawmakers in at least 11 states — Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin — have introduced legislation this session that would temporarily ban data centers, according to Good Jobs First, a watchdog group that focuses on economic development incentives.
Inside Towers reported this week that Maine is poised to become the first state to pass a bill pausing new data center construction until November 2027. The pause is meant to give regulators the chance to assess the impact those centers have on the environment and the electric grid.
While no states have enacted a moratorium, several cities and counties have banned new data center projects over the past year. In August, St. Charles, Missouri, became one of the first cities in the nation to ban data center construction for a year, notes Stateline.org.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
