AI Data Center Growth Sparks Local Recalls and EU Rule Shifts

US communities and European regulators are confronting rapid expansion of data centers built to support artificial intelligence. One data center can draw as much electricity as 2,000 homes and up to 5 million gallons of water daily for cooling, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute and University of Michigan figures cited across reports.

In Michigan’s Lenox Township, residents obtained emails showing developers sought support from officials before any public application. The township board declined to extend a moratorium, prompting a recall petition against four trustees. Similar petitions have been filed in Festus, Missouri, and Yukon, Oklahoma, where voters cited non-disclosure agreements and water rationing concerns. Data Center Watch recorded at least 75 projects worth roughly $130 billion blocked or delayed in the first quarter of 2026.

A University of Illinois survey of about 1,000 Americans found rural respondents expressed the strongest worry that new facilities would raise electricity rates. Pew Research Center data showed 67 percent of planned centers are sited in rural areas, up from the current 13 percent of existing centers located there. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stated that developers must supply their own power and water and forgo tax breaks if they locate in rural neighborhoods.

In Europe, a March draft regulation proposed an A-to-G efficiency rating for data centers and restricted clean-energy certificate offsets to projects in the same region. A revised draft obtained by the Financial Times would allow offsets from renewable projects anywhere in the EU. The change follows submissions from operators including AWS, Microsoft, Google, Digital Realty, and trade groups CISPE and EUDCA, which argued that regional limits would raise costs and slow capacity growth needed for AI. Member-state representatives were scheduled to discuss the text on July 3, 2026.

Local officials in several US jurisdictions approved projects after receiving tax-abatement proposals or land-sale agreements, while opponents note that 80 percent of Virginia localities with data-center activity signed non-disclosure agreements with developers. Industry representatives state the facilities will add to local tax bases and create jobs; opponents respond that preliminary negotiations have excluded residents from decisions on infrastructure upgrades and rate impacts.