Data center backlash is becoming cross-partisan as communities resist grid strain and land conversion.
This week’s episode of *This Week in Cleantech*, a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate hosted by Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey, features Jeremiah Karpowicz, Clarion Events’ Content Director, filling in for Gerke. The episode highlights special guest Molly Taft from WIRED, who examines the growing, cross-partisan opposition to artificial intelligence data centers. Also recognized is Drew Baglino, founder and CEO of Heron Power, named “Cleantecher of the Week.” Heron builds solid-state transformers that eliminate reliance on steel amid ongoing shortages. The company recently closed a $140 million funding round to construct a U.S. factory capable of producing 40 gigawatts of equipment annually.
In major industry developments, OpenAI has signed a 20-year, 10-gigawatt data center lease in southern Ohio with SoftBank’s SB Energy, marking the largest data center project announced to date. Nvidia is backstopping the completed facility’s value at up to $105 billion, enabling SB Energy to borrow against the project without lender concerns regarding potential tenant default. In exchange, Nvidia secures exclusive chip supply rights for the first half of the campus and takes a $1.5 billion equity stake in SB Energy. This arrangement represents a significantly smaller commitment than the roughly $250 billion all-up guarantee Nvidia reportedly considered earlier this summer, before investor pushback over exposure risk drove its stock down 5% in late July.
Meanwhile, grid infrastructure faces mounting strain. Modeling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) indicates that disabling just nine critical substations nationwide could trigger a complete national blackout. Large power transformers—truck-sized units that step down high-voltage electricity for local distribution—are largely bespoke, hand-built components. They can take up to five years to source, cost as much as $14 million each, and account for only about 20% of domestic manufacturing relative to U.S. purchases. A significant portion of the existing fleet averaged 38 to 40 years of age over a decade ago, meaning many units are now well beyond that threshold. Replacing this aging infrastructure while supporting new data centers could double demand for large power transformers by 2027. Experts warn that a coordinated attack crippling enough substations could require years—not weeks—to restore, given that replacement transformers must be custom-fabricated and are too heavy to transport without specialized rail cars, which are increasingly scarce across North America.
Battery deployment is similarly bottlenecked. As data centers and broader electrification drive up electricity consumption, grid interconnection timelines are lengthening. Nationwide, approximately 750 gigawatts of storage projects remain queued for grid connection, with median wait times surging from 1.5 years in 2015 to five years in 2025. The primary delay stems from equipment shortages; utilities cannot accelerate grid upgrades fast enough due to constrained supplies of transformers, circuit breakers, and other grid hardware. According to PG&E, procuring certain circuit breakers now takes nearly four years.
On the policy front, the Department of Energy (DOE) is terminating the review process for the final three proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs). These DOE-designated zones were intended to unlock loans and permitting mechanisms to accelerate transmission development in highly congested grid regions. All seven previously proposed corridors had already been canceled in 2024. The remaining three would have spanned more than 3,500 miles, linking Canada to the PJM Interconnection grid, connecting the Southwest Power Pool with WestConnect, and expanding tribal energy access. Secretary Chris Wright dismissed the NIETC review process as ineffective at improving grid reliability or reducing costs. Instead, the DOE is directing support toward other transmission initiatives, including $1.6 billion and $3.3 billion in loans to utility AEP and its Texas subsidiary, alongside over $26 billion allocated to Georgia Power and Alabama Power, both subsidiaries of Southern Company.
Despite these infrastructure and policy shifts, a growing, cross-partisan backlash against AI data centers is uniting right-wing populists and left-leaning environmentalists—a rare alignment in today’s political landscape. A recent Gallup poll revealed that 70% of Americans would oppose data center construction in their immediate communities. Grassroots organizing has accelerated rapidly, with anti-data center Facebook groups expanding from under 100,000 members in December to more than 500,000 by July. The movement has already triggered tangible political consequences, including data center moratoriums introduced in a dozen states and enacted in New York, a targeted attack against a pro-data-center Indianapolis city council member, and protester arrests across multiple states.