How Data Center Controversies Have Transformed the Midterm Elections

HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 26, 2026 (AP) — The snowballing opposition to data centers in communities across the United States has transformed the midterm election landscape, thrown a wrench into the plans of the world’s richest companies and brought perhaps the industry’s biggest booster, President Donald Trump, to its defense.

Dateline Ashburn

A five-part series by Broadband Breakfast about ‘Data Center Alley’ in Loudoun County, Virginia

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It's a dramatic shift from two years ago, when few people had even heard of a data center.

In a Divided America, Left and Right Unite to Oppose Data Centers

From Nebraska to New Mexico, the debates raging in cities and towns against data centers often cut across ideological lines.

Broadband BreakfastAssociated Press

But the late 2022 debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT ignited worldwide demand for chatbots and other generative AI products that typically require large amounts of computing power to train and operate. Now, Oracle, Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft expect to plunge more than $700 billion into data centers in the U.S. this year alone.

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