Community groups blocked about $130 billion in US data centers in Q1 2026, report says

Community opponents blocked or delayed at least 75 US data center projects worth about $130 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to Data Center Watch, a project of the AI intelligence firm 10a Labs. The report called it the largest single-quarter concentration of blocked and delayed data center projects on record.

The pace is the signal. The Q1 2026 total roughly matched the full-year figure for 2025, suggesting that local resistance to AI-driven data center construction is compounding rather than leveling off as hyperscalers race to add capacity.

The report found the number of active opposition groups had more than doubled, spanning 49 states — a tally the group puts at 833 organizations — and that lawmakers introduced more than 300 state data center bills in the first weeks of 2026. It says 71 percent of Americans now oppose new local data center construction, that the pushback is bipartisan, and that community concerns center on water consumption, rising electricity costs and quality-of-life effects.

The figures come with caveats. Data Center Watch's Q1 2026 analysis is proprietary work from 10a Labs, a private analytics company, not a peer-reviewed study, and "blocked or delayed" bundles outright cancellations with projects merely slowed by permitting fights, some of which may still proceed. The 833-group tally and the 71 percent figure are the report's own and have not been independently verified.

For an industry that needs land, power and water at scale, the trend points to siting and permitting becoming a harder constraint on AI capacity than the supply of chips. How much of the stalled $130 billion is permanently lost, rather than relocated or revived, will determine whether the buildout slows or simply moves.