AI Firms Face Local Limits as Data Center Boom Grows

“If we don't get the regulations right, data centers will add cooling tower chemicals and salts to the mix,” said Steven Smith, Responsible Master Plumber at DFW's Mother Modern Plumbing. Across Texas and Ohio, residents and local governments are pushing back as AI companies and other developers seek to expand facilities that consume electricity and water, while companies look for ways to keep construction moving.

Who Pays for the Buildout

Cleanview, a data center development tracker, counted 911 more U.S. data center projects between 2016 and 2026, with 571 additional projects under construction. Some of that growth comes from AI companies’ demand for computing power. In the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, a paid press release distributed by XPR Media called the region the country’s top data center construction market, an unofficial title. It reported 760 megawatts of capacity under construction, enough electricity to power more than 550,000 homes at once, while proposed sites would add another 3.7 gigawatts.

Smith warned that electricity demand could require “3 or 4 commercial nuclear reactors or a bunch of coal-fired power plants.” He also pointed to runoff and coolant: “The issue is more than the raw power- all the runoff and coolant has to go somewhere.” Residents and environmental experts have raised concerns about water pollution as projects spread from the I-35 corridor in southern Dallas and Ellis County to Irving, Garland, Plano and Allen.

Fort Worth City Council initiated the process for a 90-day moratorium on data center development and construction on August 11, 2026. The first public hearing is scheduled for November 10. The proposed pause would give officials time to develop stricter rules for water and power use. The press release said cities were considering closed-loop cooling systems to conserve water, but those systems did little to address possible chemical runoff. City officials said they would haul treated water to treatment plans across Fort Worth; residents, the release said, remained unclear about how effectively cooling-tower water would stay separate from their water supply.

That account comes with a disclosure: The Dispatch page identified the material as a paid press release and said USA TODAY Network editorial and news staff didn't create it. EIN Presswire said it provided the content “as is” and disclaimed responsibility for its accuracy and completeness. The water and capacity claims should be read with that source in view.

Votes, Moratoriums and Corporate Promises

Resistance has also taken shape through elections and local rules. NBC News exit polls found 56% of voters considered AI and data centers a “crucial or major factor” in their vote, while 76% said they would oppose new data centers in their communities. In Ohio, 18 communities approved limits on data center development in the midterms, and Piqua banned all data centers within city limits while a Meta facility was in the planning stages.

The election brought politicians to power who campaigned on federal legislation that could require AI companies to slow or change construction. Newly elected governors could pause up to 41% of planned U.S. data centers, according to Cleanview. More than 440 moratoriums were active across the country, and 34 states had considered moratorium bills, according to a tracker maintained by Interconnected Capital. Ben Green, University of Michigan assistant professor of information and public policy, said moratoriums “buy you time” to create stronger enforcement or make a more considered decision. He cautioned that “actually getting a moratorium or ban passed is a different beast than campaigning on it.”

Politicians have offered different limits. Minnesota Representative-elect Matt Little has pushed for a national ban on data center construction and nondisclosure agreements. Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed set terms including water protection, job guarantees and community benefits. In Ohio, Democratic Senator-elect Sherrod Brown said data centers should pay the full cost of their utilities.

OpenAI has begun calling its data centers “compute campuses.” After the election, it published a National Community Compact promising to publish construction plans, provide information about community impacts and avoid nondisclosure agreements with public officials. OpenAI’s only active data center is in Texas, where Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa said she plans a moratorium until the state legislature establishes new guidelines; projects that already have permits could finish construction. Meta said it would work with Piqua officials to determine the future of its investment there. The company has active developments in 23 states.

The Investment Has Its Own Constituency

The scale of the proposed buildout gives investors and companies a loud seat at the table. Federal Reserve researchers estimated that data centers, power facilities and other AI-related equipment accounted for roughly 20% of U.S. gross domestic product over the preceding year. Capital Economics forecast spending by Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft at around $800 billion in 2026, with spending expected to reach $1 trillion in 2027.

OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane acknowledged that data centers had become “a proxy for concerns about affordability, corporate power, and communities losing control to special interests.” Brookings Institution director for the Center for Technology Innovation Nicol Turner Lee said people “just want more agency in this conversation.” Yet Lee also said projects would proceed because they were needed to meet demand for AI and other computing power. The contest isn't only over where facilities go, but whether communities can set the terms before construction and investment make the decision for them.