The data center debate.
You’ve probably heard the saying that all politics is local, even as you observe national political issues increasingly trickling down to the local level. However, when it comes to data centers, the old adage is coming true again: local issues are driving debate in the halls of Congress.
Data centers are facilities that house critical information technology (IT) infrastructure, such as servers, storage systems, and networking equipment. They aren’t a new invention — they’ve provided the backbone for cloud services and internet applications for decades — but the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has created massive demand for new hubs. AI companies use the IT infrastructure within data centers to train and deploy their models, which require huge amounts of compute power to run reliably (and a lot of electricity to operate and cool). Today, many new data centers are being built expressly to support AI.
That push has generated blowback from residents of the towns and rural communities where new facilities are being constructed. Water use, land use, and electricity use are among the most prominent concerns. Some reports have found that large data centers use five million gallons of water per day, equivalent to the water use of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people. And U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, roughly 4% of the country’s total electricity consumption and approximately equal to the annual electricity demand of Pakistan. By 2030, that consumption is expected to more than double.
Concern about data centers’ impact has begun to translate into local action. Last week in Festus, Missouri, voters ousted all four incumbent city council members running for reelection after the council approved construction of a $6 billion data center. That same day, voters in Port Washington, Wisconsin, passed a referendum by a two-to-one margin restricting incentives for future data center projects. And on Tuesday, Maine lawmakers passed a bill that would freeze approvals for data centers requiring more than 20 megawatts of power until October 2027 to allow for review of the facilities’ effect on the local grid, electric bills, air quality, and water.
Some efforts to restrict construction have turned violent; last week, an Indianapolis council member said over a dozen shots were fired at his house, and a handwritten note was left on his doorstep reading “No Data Centers.” The suspect is still at large.
Even as citizens turn against these projects, states continue to compete to house them. Lawmakers at all levels of government argue that data centers will be an economic boon, creating new jobs, tax revenue, and future business opportunities. Lawmakers and AI leaders also say data centers are critical to ensuring AI models have sufficient compute power to keep the U.S. on the cutting edge of the technology and able to address national security risks. The Trump administration has designated data center development as a national priority, issuing an executive order in July 2025 to speed up permitting for new projects, allocate federal land for construction, and provide loans, grants, and tax incentives for new facilities. Many states have created similar incentive structures.
The data center debate has been a fixture of conversation among Tangle staff in recent weeks. As AI becomes an increasingly salient topic in U.S. politics, we thought now was a good time to bring those conversations to the page — in a brand-new format.
Today, Managing Editor Ari Weitzman and Associate Editor Lindsey Knuth debate their positions on the future of data centers. Each will share an “opening argument” covering the tenets of their perspective, then they’ll respond to each other’s points. Their primary arguments were developed in isolation, then shared simultaneously on Thursday. After reviewing the other’s piece, they developed their rebuttals.
We hope this format models constructive disagreement. Most importantly, we hope it is thought-provoking and encourages you to discuss these issues among friends and family, in our comment section, or over email. As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback.
Let’s dive into the debate. Ari, the floor is yours.
