A Review of Recent Reports on Data Centers
Data centers have rapidly multiplied in the United States in recent years—over 5,000 are currently operational, with over half built since 2021. The rise of the artificial intelligence (AI) sector has fueled the demand for data centers, which house massive supercomputers that act as the nerve centers for AI processing networks. Research has found that these facilities and developments consume a massive amount of energy and water, and have often been approved in less-than-transparent processes. They are also often promised as employment boons for communities, but do not offer significant long-term employment after construction is completed. In response, advocacy groups across the country have raised serious concerns and started to push back against this energy-intensive infrastructure. Below is a selection of five recent reports documenting the work of advocates striving to ensure that data centers—if they are built at all—are regulated and have minimal adverse impacts on the communities where they are located.
How States Are Approaching the Data Center Boom (Steinberg and Carol, 2025)
This report from We Build Progress looks at state and local policies around data centers, as the industry expands in the absence of sufficient federal regulation. According to their analysis, most state and local policies actually incentivize data center construction through tax breaks and subsidies, viewing them as an economic opportunity rather than something to be regulated.
Some policies and advocates have made attempts to regulate these developments: over 100 grassroots groups worked to block data center projects between May 2024 and March 2025, with notable successes in Arizona, Maryland, and Michigan. States have also created a patchwork of regulations around energy efficiency standards, grid protection, energy usage payments, and environmental reporting requirements. Other states, like Florida, have rescinded some of their tax breaks for smaller data centers, while some groups have called for state or national moratoriums on new data center development. The report urges that “states and municipalities must act quickly to implement regulations and coordinate strategies for responsible data center development”—if they even want them developed in the first place.
We Build Progress also maintains a living, publicly-available database of data center policies and regulations.
The Costs of Data Centers to Our Communities – And How to Fight Back (Kairos Fellowship and MediaJustice, 2025)
The authors of this analysis from Kairos Fellowship and MediaJustice argue that data centers serve as tools for a “manufactured AI boom” that relies on ever-increasing computing power for their operation by tech corporations. The report asserts that the current rapid expansion of these projects “far surpasses what is necessary for our everyday digital lives and what our resources can sustain…all for speculative technologies that don’t make our lives better”—all while being enabled through opaque, non-public processes.
Their work outlines several strategies, including learning about data center development in their local communities and states; advocating for zoning reforms, tax policy changes, and increased transparency; and organizing to reimagine data centers and our energy infrastructure as a whole, including ideas like public control of utilities.
An Assessment of California Data Centers’ Environmental and Public Health Impacts (UC Riverside and Next 10, 2025)
In this 2025 report, a team of UC Riverside researchers in collaboration with Next 10 examines the impacts of data centers on California’s resource usage and public health since 2019.
They found that electricity usage by these types of facilities in California increased by 95% between 2019 and 2023, and could rise a further 134% between 2023 and 2028—consuming as much electricity per year as 2.4 million U.S. households. Water consumption by data centers in the state also increased by 96% between 2019 and 2023, and could rise a further 134% under the worst-case scenario between 2023 and 2028. According to the report, carbon emissions from data centers increased by 92% between 2019 and 2023, and could rise a further 134% under the worst-case scenario between 2023 and 2028—which could threaten the state’s climate and air quality goals if left unchecked.
Finally, health costs associated with data center operations in California—based on a conversion of county-level emission inventories into estimated economic impacts like hospital expenditures, lost work days, and premature mortality—tripled between 2019 and 2023 and could rise another 72% between 2023 and 2028.
The People Say No: Resisting Data Centers in the South (MediaJustice, 2025)
Taking a more regional approach, this 2025 report from MediaJustice investigates the impact of data centers in the South. It estimates there are more than $200 billion in data center projects being built across the region, with additional developments being proposed. These projects would largely be fueled by increased gas pipelines, nuclear reactors, coal plants, and methane gas plants sited in the South—not only impacting public health, but also burdening families with additional electricity costs and decreased water availability.
The report also highlights instances of growing public resistance to this infrastructure in the South, which has already led to the shutdown of these facilities in Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina, while delaying numerous others. The authors end their analysis with four key areas of action: slowing down or blocking new data center projects; calling for transparent public processes for data center approvals; protecting natural resources and challenging corporate greenwashing; and addressing public concerns about increased AI surveillance and data collection.
The People’s Report: A Gap Analysis of Data Center Infrastructure in Prince George’s County, Maryland (NAACP and Center for Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health, 2026)
Developed by the NAACP and CEEJH, this report is a response to a county-commissioned report on data center development in Prince George’s County, Maryland. It includes survey results from nearly 100 residents who shared their concerns about transparency, air quality, noise pollution, and energy usage. A plurality of the respondents opposed data centers in their community in the first place, even if some of their environmental and process concerns were addressed.
The analysis identifies gaps in current frameworks that fall short of protecting overburdened neighborhoods, including specific recommendations on environmental and civil rights, air quality, and energy and climate justice. Ten policy recommendations are also outlined for local and state agencies, including tightening data center use restrictions in non-industrial zones, increasing setbacks and screening requirements for data centers near residential areas, and establishing a community advisory group. Finally, the authors present a Data Center Frontline Framework, with guiding principles that incorporate public health, economic impacts, and accountability to inform data center project approval in Prince George’s County.
About the author:
Austin Mendoza (he/him) grew up during times of great climate upheaval in San Diego, California – living through destructive wildfires, rising sea levels, and extreme drought. As a result, Austin is passionate about advancing equity and building solidarity in the environmental space as the state and the world continue to live with the inequitable effects of climate change. As a Data Analyst II at the Equity Research Institute, Austin’s work focuses mostly on environmental justice. He has contributed to reports and publications on making statewide climate investments more equitable, the impacts and opportunities of lithium development in the Imperial Valley, and air pollution in the Bay Area. He also helped to start the Environmental Justice series on ERI’s blog.
Austin holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychobiology, both from UCLA. Prior to joining the Equity Research Institute, Austin conducted policy analysis and community outreach on extreme heat with the City of Los Angeles, desk research on international climate justice with federal agencies, and wrote about policy and culture with LGBTQ+ newspapers. Outside of work, Austin enjoys photography, ocean diving, and trying new food.