Forty-Five Data Center Projects Worth $68 Billion Blocked or Delayed by Local Opposition in Q2 2026

Local activism has emerged as a major bottleneck for U.S. data center expansion, with communities blocking or delaying 45 projects valued at $68 billion in just three months, according to a study released today by Data Center Watch and reported by Bloomberg. The figure represents a dramatic escalation in grassroots opposition to AI infrastructure development, part of a broader backlash against the rapid buildout of computing capacity required to power generative AI systems.