Candidates in data-center states attack AI over power bills and tax breaks

Candidates like the cost complaint because it gives them two targets in one line. Besides electricity prices, the ads went after corporate or "billionaire" tax breaks for AI infrastructure, and after water and land use ^[4]. "Not only can you tie data centers to increasing costs, especially around energy costs, but you can also whack big elite interests at the same time," said Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project ^[8]. Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, looked at it from the voter's side. "A number of candidates are linking data center concerns to broader affordability issues," he said. "That makes the combination much more potent." ^[7]

The lines are blunt, and they run often. "Big Tech billionaires are coming for Wyoming. They want massive data centers, more control over our land, our water, and our way of life," Republican candidate Chuck Gray said in a spot that aired around 670 times ^[10]. "Big companies have come before, taken what they wanted, and left us with their mess to clean up. Now it's data centers," said Paige Cognetti, a Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's 8th district, in an ad that aired around 400 times ^[11]. Fred Simon, a Republican who ran in the June 9 primary for Nevada's 2nd District, said in one ad that data centers are "draining our water, driving up our power bills, threatening our way of life" ^[12].

The complaint crosses party lines. Add the Republican and Independent shares and 53% of the candidates in AdImpact's dataset were not Democrats ^[20]. A developer cannot file the objection under one party. Franz said the wording differs: Democrats are more likely to raise conservation, while Republicans talk about facilities taking over private property or eating up farmland ^[9]. In both parties, candidates attacked incumbents who had supported data-center tax breaks and said AI had served corporate or billionaire interests ^[6].

The only organised counter-message in the source material comes from the federal government, and it is aimed at fear of the technology. The Trump administration has pushed back on Americans' AI concerns and recently launched a meme campaign to combat AI doomerism ^[16]. West was not persuaded. "Trump keeps telling people everything's OK, and there's nothing to worry about," he said. "People are worried about data centers, and they're concerned about AI taking jobs. The president can huff and puff all he wants. It's not changing public worries." ^[17] The review does not describe what AI companies themselves tell local officials or voters, so it cannot show whether their pitches answer the cost case. Business Insider's own assessment is that the attacks pose a challenge for companies trying to build political support for data centers and other infrastructure ^[18].

A site-selection team might reply that ads are campaign noise and that approvals are won in zoning meetings. Governors are responding to the same pressure, though. In states like Pennsylvania and Texas, governors have flipped from supporting data-center construction to delaying or blocking the facilities, according to Business Insider ^[15]. An endorsement a developer gets from a governor this quarter can be reversed by the same office next quarter.