56% of Americans Oppose Data Centers in Their Communities

Fifty-six percent of Americans oppose building a data center in their local area, and only 15% support it, according to the Spring 2026 Climate Change in the American Mind survey released by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.

The April 2026 survey polled 1,068 U.S. adults, including 930 registered voters. Researchers Jennifer Carman, Seth Rosenthal, Anthony Leiserowitz and Edward Maibach conducted the analysis alongside Neha Gour, John Kotcher and Teresa Myers of George Mason University.

For the companies racing to build AI infrastructure, the numbers are a warning. Data centers are going up rapidly across the United States, and the backlash has already reached governors and state legislators.

How strong is the opposition?

It's bipartisan, and that's the story's most striking fact. Among registered voters, roughly three-quarters of liberal Democrats and about half of conservative Republicans said they oppose a local data center.

The pattern holds when Americans are sorted into the researchers' "Six Americas" — six distinct groups defined by their views on global warming. Opposition peaks at 71% among the Alarmed, the group most worried about climate change. But it runs nearly as strong among the Dismissive, the group that rejects the idea that global warming is happening or human-caused.

Takeaway: Americans who disagree completely about climate change agree on one thing — they don't want a data center down the road.

Are regulators already acting?

Yes. In early September, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order barring any state agency from issuing data center permits unless the project already has approval from the host municipality.

In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott vetoed a bill that would have imposed strict data center regulations. Towns are responding by banning data centers themselves, according to Seven Days VT reporting cited by the researchers.

Local zoning fights and state-level measures are multiplying as proposals spread, the researchers note.

What about electricity bills?

Cost is the sharpest concern. A majority of Americans — 59% — expect their electricity bills to rise if a data center opens nearby. Just 5% expect bills to fall, 25% said they don't know, and 12% expect no effect.

That worry crosses every political group among registered voters. It also spans nearly all Six Americas categories. The only group where a majority didn't anticipate higher bills was the Disengaged — people who pay little attention to climate news — and even there, 43% expected increases while 42% said they didn't know.

The backdrop: power-supply agreements between utilities and data center owners aren't always clear about who pays for the massive electricity involved, and the researchers note it may be functionally impossible to verify the costs are shared fairly.

Takeaway: consumers fear they'll absorb the tab for AI's power hunger.

Would Americans back a solar-and-efficiency mandate?

Strongly. The survey tested a proposal from advocacy group Rewiring America: instead of building new power plants, data center developers would be required to install rooftop solar and help weatherize nearby homes, generating and saving enough energy to cover the facility's needs.

Respondents backed making it a state or local requirement across the political spectrum and across nearly all Six Americas groups. The sole exception was the Dismissive, where less than half supported the policy — consistent, the researchers say, with that group's broader opposition to renewable energy development.

Notably, even majorities of the Dismissive oppose a local data center and expect one to raise their power bills.

What does this mean for the AI buildout?

The researchers frame the stakes plainly: the companies leading the AI boom are seeking "not only computer servers, electricity and land, but also public support."

Some state regulators and utilities are already designing electricity rates to keep data center costs off other customers' bills, according to a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory document cited in the study.

The survey findings, which the researchers say align with separate September 2026 Pew Research Center polling showing Americans' views of data centers have turned more negative, suggest consensus where polarization usually rules. As data centers keep expanding, the researchers conclude, policymakers, developers and community leaders who understand where groups agree and disagree will be better positioned to serve the public interest — and, for the industry, to keep projects moving at all.