The Battle For The Power Grid: Trump And Towns Clash Over US Data Centers
President Trump urged American communities on Monday to welcome data center development, warning that local resistance to the facilities risks leaving towns economically behind.
The debate over data center infrastructure has emerged as a major flashpoint in municipal and state politics ahead of November’s midterm elections. Writing on Truth Social, the U.S. president defended the facilities as engines of economic growth and national competitiveness.
“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor,” Trump wrote. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.
“The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti-data-center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!”
The push from the administration follows a massive surge in data center development across the country, fueled by the computational demands of artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The facilities require massive amounts of electricity and cooling water, prompting pushback across both Republican and Democratic areas where regional power grids are already strained.
Recent national polling indicates that approximately three out of four Americans oppose having a data center built near their homes, with more than 60% expressing strong opposition.
Vice President JD Vance addressed the issue on Monday, framing data infrastructure as essential while acknowledging that residential energy costs are the primary driver of community resistance.
“When people build them, they have to build the power plants along with the datacenters,” Vance told reporters. “I think probably 99% of the backlash to datacenters has come in areas where building a datacenter means higher utility and higher electricity for the people on the ground.
“I think what these companies have to do is take advantage of some of the federal deregulatory efforts that we’ve undertaken,” Vance added. “If you build a datacenter, you should be putting power back into the grid, not taking it out. And if that is happening, I don’t think the datacenters are that controversial. It’s when the utility bills get so much higher that’s when it’s a real problem.”
The controversy has already led to tangible project delays and policy shifts nationwide. According to figures from the research group Data Center Watch, grassroots coalitions blocked or delayed at least 75 data center projects valued at approximately $130 billion in the first quarter of 2026.
Municipalities in California, Virginia, and North Carolina have successfully halted or scaled back local proposals, while several states—including New York and Texas—have weighed or enacted temporary pauses and moratoriums on new grid interconnections.