Data Center Data

It appears that we can expect the construction of data centers to be an increasing political issue over the next several years.

There are already more than 4,000 data centers that are operational in the United States according to Axios.

Virginia leads the nation in operating data centers with 663 followed by Texas with 405.

Source: https://www.axios.com/2025/12/18/data-center-growth-map-states

Data centers have been around for some time as they are the backbone of the internet and the digital economy,

They are the home for thousands of networked computer servers that store, process and manage the digital world we live in today.

They are behind your ability to browse the internet, stream movies and music, store photos, keep track of your Amazon order and bank online.

The introduction of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has resulted in even greater demand for larger and larger data centers.

3,000 additional data centers are now under construction or planned in the United States.

Texas and Virginia continue to be the leaders in data center development.

However, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Arizona are all seeing a lot of data center activity.

Source: https://www.axios.com/2025/12/18/data-center-growth-map-states

The size and scale of these new data centers is something to behold.

There is one under construction along I-71 between Cincinnati and Columbus that I passed a couple of months ago.

When finished I believe it will be similar to this data center that Amazon recently opened in October, 2025.

The reported cost of the Ohio facility that I drove by is $5 billion.

I spoke to a principal in a large construction firm based in Virginia earlier this year who told me that over the last several years almost their entire book of business has shifted from commercial building to data center construction.

His comment is supported by this graph that shows changes in U.S. construction spending between May, 2023 and May, 2024.

Source: https://americanedgeproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Americas-AI-Surge-Powering-Growth-in-Every-State.pdf

Data center construction projects provide massive economic benefits.

According to this report, a typical data center construction project employs 1,600 to 1,700 local workers during the build-out and adds a quarter of a billion dollars to the local economy.

However, the surge in the demand for data centers has resulted in increasing push-back from more and more people.

This is driven first and foremost by a NIMBY  ("Not in my backyard yard") mindset.

Having a data center in your backyard is not much different that having an airport, a refinery or a wind farm considering their size and the utility lines necessary to power it.

There was a "national day of protest" against data centers this past weekend.

Source: https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2026/07/19/nation-world-news/us-data-center-protests-go-national-as-backlash-grows/

Opponents of the rapid buildout of data centers held 142 protests across 42 states on Saturday in the first nationwide effort to channel anger at the AI infrastructure expansion that has ramped up over the past year and roiled local politics.

The protests were coordinated by a grassroots group called HumansFirst, co-founded by a former leader of the modern-day Tea Party. She compares growing opposition to data centers to the right-wing populist movement that emerged in 2009 to protest what it saw as excessive taxation and government overreach.

The organizer of that protest might have been a conservative but the data center issue is also sure to also be popular with a lot of left wing activists.

Democrats Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez earlier this year called for a moratorium on all AI data center construction.

Their concerns center around the potential loss of jobs due to AI as well as environmental issues.

For example, critics of these data centers complain about what they call the excessive water usage in these facilities. 

Water is used in data centers to cool the servers to prevent equipment failure and to control humidity to protect against static electric that might damage delicate components.

However, let's look at the water usage of data centers compared to other uses for this resource.

Source: https://www.axios.com/2026/06/25/water-energy-ai-flashpoint

This suggests to me that citing water usage as a concern for data centers is considerably overblown.

However, that does not mean that a data center in a single community will not place additional strain on the locality's water resources. 

At the same time, I imagine anyone developing a data center location is not going to build it without sufficient resources to support it over the long term.

The other big concern often expressed are the electricity demands for these data centers.

They require enormous amounts of electricity.

For this reason many of the data centers are building their own electric generation supply onsite because of long queues to connect to the grid.

Some new data centers are funding the reopening of mothballed nuclear plants for their sole use.

Gas turbine generation, onsite solar and batteries and small modular nuclear reactors are other methods being used to get the 24/7 power these data centers require.

This graphic shows the 20 largest data centers under construction and the electric capacity needs measured in gigawatts. 

For context, one gigawatt of power is capable of supplying about 750,000 average homes.

Source: https://orennia.com/insights/the-20-largest-data-centers-being-developed-in-north-america

People are worried that these data centers will mean additional energy use, grid constraints and higher utility bills.

It is understandable because we have reached a point in which our lives are dependent on electricity.

We need it to heat and cool our homes. We need it for refrigeration and cooking. We need it for lighting and to access the internet. We need it for automatic garage door openers and to charge our phones.

If the power is out in your home for a couple of hours you quickly realize just how dependent you are on that power.

This summary of a Gallup survey on the concerns about data centers breaks it all down.

How much electricity do data centers use?

In 2025 they consumed about 5% of total electric demand in the United States.

Source: https://ourworldindata.org/how-much-energy-do-data-centers-and-artificial-intelligence-use

This demand will increase but even if it doubled it would only amount to 10% of electricity demand in the United States.

Where is electricity being used by sector currently?

Source: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser

Residential typically consumes 33% of total electricity demand today.

Commercial uses are about 39%.

Industrial uses 28% of total electricity. 

25 years ago each of these sectors used about one-third of electricity demand.

As more industry went offshore the electricity required to support it declined.

Less electricity is used in the Industrial sector today than 25 year ago in absolute terms.

The electricity used to support Industrial uses has been transferred to the Commercial sector which generally includes public, private and government office buildings and nows include data centers.

As we have moved to a digital economy it is natural that more resources would be required to support it.

I understand the concerns about the number of data centers but it needs to be understood that this infrastructure is what is likely going to power the U.S. economy in the coming decades.

We can ignore that reality but the United States will lose to China and others if we think we can compete economically without this infrastructure.

All of the complaints about data centers reminds me of the criticism we heard about fracking as it first was introduced in the United States.

We were told that fracking was going to contaminate the water table and supply. it was going to cause earthquakes and result in dangerous methane leaks.

How is it we hear almost nothing about any of these issues anymore?

Two-thirds of all oil and 75% of all natural gas production in the United States now comes from fracking.

If we had listened to the naysayers the United States would not be energy independent and the economy would look a lot different than it does today.

The United States now produces over twice as much oil today as it did in 2010.

Source: https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_crude_oil_field_production

The United States is producing more oil than Saudi Arabia and Russia COMBINED.

The United States is also the leading producer of natural gas in the world.

Where would we be if we had listened to the critics and fear mongering?

In addition, do we know how much of the opposition to data centers is being fueled by our enemies?

Consider this recent New York Times story which explains that both China and Russia are running major foreign operations to fuel opposition to data centers in the United States.

Why would they do that?

It goes without saying that we need to be diligent in protecting our natural resources and carefully consider the placement of new data centers to insure the least amount of disruption to our environment and population centers.

However, if we want to continue to take advantage of our digital economy. its future potential and the leading position that the United States has in this sector, it cannot be done without the infrastructure to support it.

Data centers are as critical in that regard as fracking has been in drilling for more oil and gas.

If you don't believe it, try living without what fracking and those data centers provide us and see what it means to your quality of life.