Story perspectives

Cities Approve Data Centers, Impose Moratoriums After Backlash

By Drooid · Sep 12, 2026, 6:03 PM UTC · How we work

Left

Activists Demand Moratorium

In September 2026, many U.S. counties and cities approved new data-center projects while also imposing moratoriums on further construction.
Community groups and former EPA officials warned that the expansion, enabled by President Donald Trump’s deregulation, threatens public health by relying on dirty energy.
Activists in Oakland gathered 7,000 petition signatures and held press events demanding a moratorium.
Lawyers filed lawsuits in several states alleging data-center noise and water use depress values.

Right

Tech Giants Fund

In September 2026, several U.S. counties and cities approved new data center projects while also imposing moratoriums on further construction.
Republican officials say the Ratepayer Protection Act shields American families from utility-cost spikes caused by data centers.
President Donald Trump warned data centers would keep communities poor.
Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI pledged to cover data-center power costs.

Center

Cities Impose Ban

In September 2026, several U.S. counties and cities approved new data-center projects and imposed moratoriums on further construction.
The report highlights incentives and technical details, such as Douglas County’s $19.3 million tax rebate and Global AI’s closed-loop system using 68,000 gallons of water yearly.
San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton introduced a 45-day moratorium, to 22 months after planning review.
Denver, Broomfield and Longmont enacted bans on data centers, citing electricity, water and noise.

Blindspot

Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI signed the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge, committing to cover power-generation and infrastructure costs for data centers, according to the Right-leaning source.
Within this story's sources, this corporate-pledge angle appears mainly in Right-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Left-leaning and Center-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

The Obama EPA proposed the Clean Power Plan in June 2014, aiming for a 32 % cut in 2005-level power-plant CO2 by 2030. Trump’s 2017 executive order and the 2022 Supreme Court West Virginia v EPA decision curtailed that authority, leading to the 2020 rollback and the 2026 White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI.

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Activists Demand Moratorium

In September 2026, many U.S. counties and cities approved new data-center projects while also imposing moratoriums on further construction.
Community groups and former EPA officials warned that the expansion, enabled by President Donald Trump’s deregulation, threatens public health by relying on dirty energy.
Activists in Oakland gathered 7,000 petition signatures and held press events demanding a moratorium.
Lawyers filed lawsuits in several states alleging data-center noise and water use depress values.

1 / 5