Key swing state candidates are scrambling to endorse stricter data center policies and accusing their opponents of being too cozy with the industry, as Americans become increasingly hostile to the rapid buildout of AI infrastructure.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who once touted data center investments in the Keystone State, signed an order Tuesday implementing new requirements for developers to cover electricity costs and secure local approval for projects.
In Michigan, Republican Senate candidate former Rep. Mike Rogers announced Thursday that he is backing a one-year state moratorium on new data centers.
And former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is going after his opponent, incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), over his record on data centers in the Buckeye State.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) recently issued an internal memo warning that “data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.”
Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the progressive Sunrise Movement, told The Hill that during her canvassing in Michigan and Wisconsin, she has talked to voters who “are flipping their party affiliation because of the importance of data centers.”
Tech companies are pushing to build scores of new centers to fuel the development of AI, which requires vast amounts of computing power.
But in the face of growing concerns about electricity costs, water usage and other environmental impacts, public opinion has soured.
Read more in a full report this weekend at TheHill.com.
