US voters back data centre limits almost everywhere they were asked, with one measure failing so far

Early results from Tuesday's votes show restrictions winning in dozens of localities, and voters in Piqua, Ohio, removed officials who backed a Meta project. Past bans have so far delayed few projects.

Voters in dozens of US localities backed limits on data centres in Tuesday's elections, and early counts show almost no vote going the industry's way. <cite index="1-3">According to Data Centers on the Ballot, 33 measures restricting data centre development have won, with six more questions leading.</cite> <cite index="1-4">Only one, in Harwood, North Dakota, which adds a review process for industrial projects including data centres, has failed. Five have no posted results.</cite>

The measures were varied. <cite index="17-4">They ranged from permanent bans and moratoriums to time-limited measures and limits based on facility size or energy use.</cite> Some were advisory: <cite index="19-1">in Bloomington, Illinois, nearly 22,000 voters (78%) backed a nonbinding measure recommending a moratorium on large data centres.</cite>

The votes also reached officials. <cite index="14-1">In Piqua, Ohio, voters approved a charter amendment restricting data centre construction and recalled three city commissioners, after months of debate over a planned Meta data centre.</cite> <cite index="14-2">The amendment passed 66.70% to 33.30% in unofficial results.</cite> Heise reports <cite index="19-10">a similar ouster in Yukon, Oklahoma.</cite>

Some measures reach projects already in motion. <cite index="3-1">Ashville residents voted to block a data centre campus that is already under construction,</cite> according to Fortune. <cite index="5-10">Investinglive says Sunbury, Ohio, backed a ban on large data centres that could affect a proposed $2bn Amazon project.</cite>

The past record is the counterweight. Mezha reports that <cite index="17-9">of more than 300 local data centre bans enacted across the US, only three developments, totalling 2.3 gigawatts, have been delayed.</cite> It adds that <cite index="17-10">another 38 gigawatts are expected to come online by 2027.</cite>

That gap is the point. A ballot ban is a cheap instrument against capacity already financed, but it is a real one against sites not yet chosen, and developers and their lenders now have to price a permit that voters can revoke. <cite index="4-6">An NBC exit poll found more than 50% of respondents called AI and data centres a crucial or major factor in their vote,</cite> according to Euronews. Next come votes on data centres in <cite index="2-10">Arkansas on December 1 and North Dakota on Decembe