HIGHCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Harvard Researcher: Communities Are Right to Push Back Against Data Centers

No More Data CentersMay 29, 2026⌖ National (Virginia, Texas, California, Michigan, Georgia)

A Harvard-affiliated researcher has put an academic stamp on what thousands of residents across the country already know from lived experience: data centers are a bad deal for communities, and the public is right to fight them.

Ben Green, assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and Public Policy and a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, spoke with the Harvard Gazette in April 2026 about the social, economic, and environmental costs of the data center boom fueled by AI demand.

"I think the public is quite right to be concerned about data centers."
— Ben Green, Harvard Gazette, April 2026

The Scale of the Problem

More than 4,000 data centers are already operating in the United States — mostly in Virginia, Texas, and California — with 3,000 more planned or under construction. Within just a few years, data centers are projected to consume 10–15% of total nationwide electricity demand.

Green cited a project near his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan: part of OpenAI's Stargate initiative in Saline Township — over 2 million square feet, consuming 1.4 gigawatts of energy. That's equivalent to the electricity used by one million households.

This scale of demand is actively prolonging the use of fossil fuel plants that were slated for closure, directly undermining renewable energy transition goals. (Harvard Gazette, April 2026)

The Jobs Promise Is a Lie

"It's a significant false promise of these data centers."
— Ben Green

The pitch data center developers make to local governments is simple: bring us here, give us tax breaks and zoning waivers, and we'll create jobs. Green's research shows that pitch is fundamentally dishonest.

Construction work lasts one to two years and often uses out-of-state labor
Once operational, a data center typically employs just 20 to 50 people
It's a warehouse of servers — not a tech campus employing software engineers or product managers
There are no beneficial economic ripple effects for surrounding businesses

Living next to a data center doesn't give you cheaper or faster access to the technologies it powers. It just means higher electricity bills and more noise.

Billion-Dollar Tax Giveaways

About 35 states have passed tax breaks to incentivize data center development. Over the past year alone, Virginia and Georgia gave up more than $1 billion in tax revenue through these incentives — money that could have funded schools, infrastructure, and healthcare.

Green is clear: these tax breaks must be repealed. They incentivize further harmful development while making an already bad community deal even worse.

Your Electricity Bill Is Going Up

If you live near data centers, your electricity rates are rising — often doubling. This is happening consistently across the country as utilities upgrade infrastructure to serve hyperscale facilities and pass those costs on to residential and commercial customers.

A 2026 report on New Jersey found AI data centers are directly responsible for spiking electricity bills statewide. This pattern is repeating nationwide.

Green calls for rate protections built into contracts so that utility infrastructure costs don't get passed to consumers. So far, those protections largely don't exist.

A Bipartisan Backlash

Opposition to data centers has become a rare unifying issue across the political spectrum. Liberals cite environmental harm and distrust of AI companies. Conservatives are furious about eminent domain seizures, corporate welfare, and the destruction of rural communities.

Green notes this is reshaping elections: candidates who are critical of data centers are finding it is a "big winning issue" in Virginia, Georgia, and Michigan primaries. A 2026 Pew Research poll confirms the broad public opposition.

What Green Says Needs to Happen

Green outlines a clear policy agenda:

Repeal tax breaks for data center developers
Mandatory transparency — end secretive contracts, redacted public documents, and NDA requirements for policymakers
Rate protections for utility customers — infrastructure upgrade costs must not be passed to consumers
Community voice in zoning and permitting decisions
Regional capacity planning — states and utility jurisdictions need to set limits on total water and electricity that data centers can consume

The Resistance Is Working

Green's assessment of local resistance movements is notably optimistic:

"It's been impressive just how well communities have organized around this, how educated they have gotten about the topic, and how many of these projects they have been able to stop. It's a sort of David and Goliath fight; local communities are pushing back against some of the wealthiest companies in the world."

Many data center projects have been blocked. Many municipalities have passed moratoria. The fight is not over — but it is being won in places.

Sources & Citations

// DID THIS RESONATE?

CLICK TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ORIGINAL SOURCE

Harvard Gazette

DIALOGUE CHAMBER

(0 voices)