Election Backlash Puts New Roadblocks in Front of the AI Data-Center Boom
The midterm election could make the next phase of AI data-center expansion harder, according to reporting by CBS News and commercial-real-estate publication Bisnow. Local restrictions and state-level victories by candidates promising tighter oversight are changing the development outlook.
By the Bay Area Brief staff · Edited by Seamus McKenna · · 2 min read
Dome and sculpted pediment of the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Photo: DimiTalen / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped, resized and color-graded). Archive photo of the area; not a photo of the events in this story.
The midterm election could make the next phase of AI data-center expansion harder, according to reporting by CBS News and commercial-real-estate publication Bisnow. Local restrictions and state-level victories by candidates promising tighter oversight are changing the development outlook.
Bisnow reported that restrictive data-center measures passed in at least 29 jurisdictions and that Texas governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned on a moratorium. Analysts described risks to projects still seeking power or permits rather than an automatic halt to every project already under construction.
For the AI industry, the distinction matters: projected computing capacity depends on land, electricity and local approvals as well as chips and investment. The reports describe anticipated obstacles and policy promises, not a single nationwide ban that has already taken effect.
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Draft standards for facilities drawing 20 megawatts or more would require 100% clean power, bar drinking water in open cooling systems and cap backup generator testing. Residents get a say Oct. 15.
Three of five LVJUSD board seats are on the Nov. 3 ballot in the district's first by-trustee-area election. In Area 5, at-large trustees Deena Kaplanis and Christiaan VandenHeuvel face each other and newcomer Sam Phelps.
Three Pittsburg City Council seats are on the Nov. 3 ballot, and a 99-megawatt data center planned for the old Delta View Golf Course is the issue dividing the field. On Monday night the council voted 4-0 to bring back a 45-day moratorium on future data centers.
Measure E on Solano County's Nov. 3 ballot would raise the commercial wind turbine business license tax and add new taxes on solar farms, battery storage, natural gas extraction and data centers in unincorporated areas. County staff estimate about $353,000 a year for the General Fund. It needs a simple majority.
