Moratoriums, protests, and policy responses emerge worldwide, citing strain on resources, rising costs, environmental impact, and concentrated development proposals.

Resistance to new data center construction is spreading across North America and Asia as the AI buildout accelerates, with the communities there objecting to projects they say could strain water, power, and neighborhood conditions.

In Chester County, South Carolina, officials had on 18 June 2026 advanced a six-month moratorium on data center development, pausing special exceptions, land development reviews, and related hearings while residents and planners debate the county’s direction. That move follows months of pushback in Pennsylvania’s Chester County, where organized opposition has already slowed or blocked multiple proposals.

A data center study shared with NBC News had noted that opponents had impeded at least 75 projects nationwide worth about US$130bn in the first quarter of 2026, the highest three-month total since tracking began in 2023. The same reporting noted that a poll found 68% of Pennsylvanians would oppose an AI data center in their community.

In Canada, the scale of proposed development has prompted similar scrutiny. Internal government briefings reviewed by CBC showed more than 20 gigawatts of AI data center capacity is under planning or development, compared with a current base of just 337 megawatts, and about 90% of those proposals are concentrated in Alberta.

Big tech firms have official approvals

On 8 July 2026, Meta had announced that it plans to build a C$13bn, 1-gigawatt facility in Sturgeon County, Alberta, which would be its first in Canada. The provincial government has already responded with policy changes, including late-2025 legislation that added a levy on data centers drawing 75 megawatts or more from Alberta’s grid, a measure aimed at preventing residential customers from absorbing the costs. Data from Alberta Electric System Operator shows why the issue has become politically charged: the utility has received more than 20,000 megawatts of data center load requests, even though current peak grid demand is about 12,000 megawatts.