U.S. towns fight AI-driven data center developments

In Salix, Iowa, more than a dozen residents gathered outside City Hall on July 18 to protest a proposed 900‑acre data center. They cited worries about the facility’s water and electricity consumption, light and noise pollution, and the risk of “tearing the community apart,” as resident Janet Yanek put it. The Salix city council has scheduled a vote on August 12 to consider a temporary moratorium on data‑center approvals while the impacts are studied.

In Andover Township, New Jersey, officials adopted a ban on data centers and are now defending it in court after Pennsylvania‑based National Land Developers sued to overturn the ordinance. The developer seeks to revive plans for a 97‑acre data center on the former Newton Airport site. The lawsuit, filed on July 10 in Sussex County Superior Court, argues the ban is “arbitrary.” Local activists and residents have opposed the project over concerns about high electricity use and water depletion.

Both communities illustrate a growing backlash across the United States against large AI‑related data‑center projects, highlighting tensions between technological expansion and local resource and quality‑of‑life concerns.