Google data center, Council Bluffs, IA

With control of Congress on the line in the midterms, a wave of bipartisan opposition to AI data centers has become one of the more unexpected developments of the campaign. Rising electricity bills tied to data center growth already helped Democrats flip a Georgia utility regulator’s seat last November, a preview of a fight now spreading into House and Senate races nationwide.

The anger fueling this fight is shared by voters in both parties, and it goes well beyond electricity bills. A poll found 77 percent of Americans are concerned data centers will raise their electric bills, with two-thirds of Democrats and half of Republicans saying they would oppose a data center in their own community. Independents are just as uneasy: a University of Massachusetts Amherst poll found 71 percent would oppose an AI data center in their own community, a higher share than the Republicans polled and close to the Democratic number.