A small California city has become the latest—and most striking—example of the growing data center backlash sweeping across the United States.

In December, officials in Monterey Park, a diverse community east of Los Angeles often called the nation’s first suburban Chinatown, proposed building a massive data center roughly the size of four football fields. Within six weeks, local residents stopped it cold.

What began as a five-person effort quickly turned into a coordinated grassroots campaign. The group No Data Center Monterey Park, working alongside San Gabriel Valley Progressive Action, organized teach-ins, rallies, door-knocking drives, and multilingual outreach in English, Chinese, and Spanish. Their message was simple: the proposed facility would strain the power grid, raise electricity costs, increase noise pollution, and pose public-health risks.

The response was overwhelming. A petition gathered nearly 5,000 signatures, and hundreds of residents showed up at public meetings. City leaders ultimately announced a 45-day moratorium on data center construction, along with a commitment to explore a permanent ban.

“It felt unreal,” said Steven Kung, a co-founder of No Data Center Monterey Park. “Like the third act of an Oscar-winning movie.”

A National Data Center Backlash Takes Shape

Monterey Park’s victory is not an isolated case. Over the past year, local opposition to large-scale data centers has intensified nationwide, uniting unlikely allies across political and cultural lines.

According to Data Center Watch, community campaigns delayed or canceled $98 billion worth of data center projects between March and June 2025 alone. More than 50 active groups in 17 states targeted 30 proposed developments, with roughly two-thirds successfully halted.

“There’s no safe space for data centers anymore,” said Miquel Vila, lead analyst at Data Center Watch, which is run by 10a Labs. “The opposition is happening in very different communities.”

From environmental activists in Virginia to conservative rural organizers in the Midwest, the data center backlash is forming strange but powerful coalitions.

Why Communities Are Pushing Back

Data centers—many built to support cloud computing and AI workloads—have rapidly expanded into areas with cheap land, generous tax incentives, and abundant power. But residents say the costs often fall on locals.

A November Morning Consult poll found that a majority of U.S. voters support banning data center construction near where they live, with many blaming “AI data centers” for rising electricity prices.

In Indiana, a major data center hub with more than 70 facilities, communities are currently fighting another 50 proposed projects. At least a dozen were halted in the past year, according to Citizens Action Coalition.

“It’s like a revolt in the heartland,” said Bryce Gustafson, an organizer with the coalition. “There’s bipartisan, non-partisan pushback against these developments.”

For many residents, data centers have become a physical symbol of distrust—toward Big Tech, government incentives, and infrastructure decisions made without community input.

Health, Energy, and Environmental Concerns

In Monterey Park, organizers focused heavily on environmental and public-health risks. The proposed facility would have relied on 14 on-site diesel generators, which researchers say emit nitrogen oxides linked to asthma, respiratory illness, and increased cancer risk.

Community organizer Hrag Balian said the group learned from similar fights in Virginia and Pennsylvania, where sustained organizing had stalled or blocked projects.

“None of us were experts,” Balian said. “But seeing how other communities organized made a huge difference.”

Political Ripples Reach State and Federal Levels

The data center backlash is now influencing politics beyond city councils.

In Virginia—the world’s largest data center hub with more than 600 facilities—newly elected Governor Abigail Spanberger campaigned on lowering utility bills by ensuring AI companies pay a fair share of electricity costs.

At the federal level, lawmakers from across the spectrum—including Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib, Ron DeSantis, and Josh Hawley—have voiced support for regulating AI infrastructure.

A Local Win, With More Battles Ahead

In Monterey Park, the fight is not over. City officials are considering putting the data center decision to voters in November, a move that could extend the battle for months.

Organizers say they’re ready.

“We won a victory,” Kung said. “But there’s still a lot of work to do.”

As AI infrastructure expands nationwide, Monterey Park’s story underscores a broader reality: the future of data centers may increasingly be decided not in boardrooms, but by local communities pushing back—one city at a time.

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