Small Minnesota data centers fueling bigger AI backlash
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In several Twin Cities communities, big fears about the future of AI are driving backlash to data center projects — even relatively small ones.
Why it matters: Data centers are becoming a stand-in for broader anger at an AI future many Americans don't want but fear they'll have to pay for.
- New statewide and national polling suggests many voters are wary of the pace and terms of the buildout — and anxious about higher utility bills, home prices or environmental damage.
Case in point: Inver Grove Heights enacted a data center moratorium on June 26 amid public backlash against a proposed 5-megawatt facility. (The largest data centers consume hundreds of megawatts.)
- More than 20 people spoke at a June 26 City Council meeting, with most expressing concerns about noise and electricity use, but broader concerns also found voice.
"In data centers … profits are privatized, and the problems are publicized," one Inver Grove Heights commenter told the council.
- "These data centers are for AI," another speaker said. "It's not going to be a good thing for us in the end."
- "When this bubble bursts — which many smart people say it will — we're going to be left holding the bag," said another commenter, Geoff Dittberner of the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table.
By the numbers: In Minnesota, more than three-quarters of likely voters are concerned about AI use in daily life, according to June's Star Tribune/KARE11/University of Minnesota poll.
- Two in three Minnesotans would oppose a data center near their homes.
State of play: Eagan recently enacted a moratorium similar to Inver Grove Heights' (and was sued for it); as did Minneapolis, though its temporary ban exempted downtown.
- Elk River's council recently rejected a 33-megawatt facility and will likely pursue its own moratorium soon.
Between the lines: Most opposition to data centers isn't coming from neighbors.
- In a poll of 6,800 Americans, the consulting firm Milltown Partners found that only 8% of data center opponents said they live near an actual center.
The industry's response: Nvidia says one of the biggest complaints about data centers — water use — could become much less of a problem, Axios' Amy Harder writes.
- The company unveiled a new cooling system that it says can dramatically reduce the water and energy needed to run AI data centers.
The bottom line: Temporary bans — even those sparked by relatively small projects — could force companies and policymakers to answer questions about costs, water use and who benefits.
Go deeper: Data centers become the face of AI backlash from Axios AI+