Data Center Alley backlash is about electricity, not culture war

The backlash traces to concrete grid politics in Virginia, where data centers are mostly connected to the existing grid and draw power from Dominion Energy, much of it generated by natural gas. Recent protests have already produced state rules requiring data centers to pay fully for new transmission lines rather than spreading the cost to everyone else, and developers told the correspondent they are preparing for rules that would cut them off from grid power during peak demand.

Elsewhere in the country, the scale of AI data centers is so massive that companies are setting up in rural areas with virtually no grid infrastructure, bringing their own power through natural-gas turbines and diesel backup. Anthropic, for example, has reportedly agreed to pay $3.4 billion for gas turbines in what's described as the largest power generation purchase by an AI company. The smallest data centers attractive for AI training are 300 megawatts, while the ideal facilities are more like 6,000 megawatts—the estimated draw of the city of Chicago.

Even self-generated power affects surrounding communities, and the rush to operate has led to companies becoming horrible neighbors; Elon Musk violated air quality laws when he set up dozens of turbines to power a data center in Memphis, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. As one developer told the correspondent, industry insiders see their ambitions constrained less by public opposition than by a lack of electricity.