Briefing 01/16/2025
Residents in Peculiar, Missouri, pushed local authorities to block a proposed hyperscale data center.
From Town Halls to Ballots: Opponents of data centers gained ground in the 2024 election. The past general election signals rising Political Risk for the Data Center Industry.
2024 General Election Snapshot
2024 saw bipartisan opposition to data centers, with anti-data center candidates winning across the country.
Key battlegrounds
Virginia: Ground zero of data center opposition in the U.S.
Warrenton, Virginia: Local elections turned into a referendum on an Amazon data center. From 2023 to 2024, all council members supporting Amazon’s data center project in Warrenton lost their seats.
Georgia: Push to end tax incentives for data centers united fiscal conservatives and environmentalists.
Texas: Fort Worth, Granbury, and Hood County face growing community opposition over grid and environmental concerns.
Key Federal and State political figures
Virginia: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D) advocates stricter regulations and cost-sharing.
Georgia: Representatives John Carson(R), Shaw Blackmon(R), and John Albers (R)challenge tax breaks.
Texas: Senators Donna Campbell (R), Nathan Johnson (D), and others push for oversight on grid stability.
Mounting Bipartisan Risks: How the 2024 Elections Propelled Anti–Data Center Candidates to Victory
The 2024 elections revealed the growing political risks for data center development across the United States, as several candidates critical of these facilities scored decisive victories in state and local races. Opposition to data centers transcends party lines, with both Republicans and Democrats voicing objections to large-scale data center developments and the infrastructure burdens they impose on communities.
Warrenton, Virginia: Politicians Swept from Office Over Data Center Support
Nowhere was the anti–data center sentiment more apparent than in Warrenton, Virginia, where Amazon’s proposed 220,000-square-foot data center campus sparked a year-long battle. Although site plan approval was granted in April 2024, community outrage grew swiftly. Over 500 residents—bolstered by actor Robert Duvall—regularly packed town council meetings, with the Citizens for Fauquier County (CFFC) leading the charge through legal challenges.
The backlash reached its apex in the November 2024 elections. Voters decisively replaced the remaining pro–data center council members with three newcomers—Roy Francis, Larry Kovalik, and Michele O’Halloran—who all campaigned on opposing the Amazon project. Starting in 2023, every town council member who supported Amazon’s data center project in Warrenton has lost their seat.
This wholesale replacement spotlights a broader trend across Virginia, where local officials increasingly face electoral consequences for supporting data center development. Warrenton has become a bellwether: local protests, once easily dismissed, now translate into ballot-box repercussions.
Virginia: Local Backlash is Creating Federal Data Center Opponents
Virginia has seen more than $46 billion in projects blocked or delayed since 2022. Over thirty organized opposition groups operate across the Commonwealth, including the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition, the country’s largest anti–data center coordinating platform.
The political fallout from data center development is so intense that it has become an issue in federal elections as well. Newly elected U.S. Representative Suhas Subramanyam (D), an ex-Obama tech advisor, has vowed to tighten environmental regulations on data centers at the federal level. As a former state legislator, he introduced measures requiring data center operators to meet stricter efficiency standards and contribute more to energy infrastructure costs. Now representing Virginia’s 10th District—America’s largest data center hub—Subramanyam stated he will push to ensure these facilities shoulder higher utility and infrastructure costs.
With anti–data center sentiment surging, Virginia is now ground zero for resistance nationwide. Observers expect the political battles to escalate further heading into the 2025 state elections.
Red State Opposition
Georgia
In Georgia, voters reelected Representatives John Carson, Shaw Blackmon, and John Albers—all Republicans who co-sponsored HB 1192, aimed at suspending data center tax exemptions. Although Governor Brian Kemp vetoed the bill, the reelection of these lawmakers underlines growing discontent with tax incentives for data centers. Georgia’s emerging alliance between fiscal conservatives and environmental groups suggests the issue will remain politically explosive.
Texas
In Texas anti–data center sentiment is also gaining a foothold. At the local level, Fort Worth and Granbury have seen pushback against planned facilities, with organized community groups pressing local officials to scrutinize data centers’ water and electricity use. Meanwhile, reelected state senators Donna Campbell (R) and Nathan Johnson (D) have voiced concerns about grid reliability and advocated for tighter oversight of data centers’ energy consumption. Their success signals that even in traditionally pro-business regions like Texas, data centers may increasingly face political resistance.
Looking Ahead: Navigating New Political Terrain
As the 2024 elections confirmed, data center projects can quickly become political flashpoints—capable of unseating incumbents who champion them. From local councils to congressional seats, candidates are leveraging community concerns about noise, environmental impact, and infrastructure costs to mobilize voters.
The next key test for the data center industry will be Virginia’s state and local elections in November, 2025.
