As artificial intelligence grows more prevalent in daily life, the construction of data centers has surged across the United States, with 4,900 centers expected, many near residential areas. Currently, over one-third of Americans live within a few miles of at least one data center, leading to growing community opposition related to concerns over water usage, noise, and power demands. In 2025, an estimated $152 billion in investments for data centers faced delays due to grassroots challenges, marking a shift from isolated zoning disputes to a national movement prioritizing neighborhood quality of life. Developers are beginning to address these concerns by integrating safeguards during the planning stages, but as of now, the dialogue on the impacts of these facilities continues to evolve amid rising local activism and opposition.

Emma Cox: Emma Cox is the chief commercial officer at ClimeCo, an environmental advisory and decarbonization firm. She is quoted warning that rapid data-center development needs more responsible planning to reduce environmental and human-health risks.
Mary Prenon: Mary Prenon is the journalist credited with authoring the Epoch Times report. She is relevant here as the reporter who assembled the piece’s coverage of data-center growth and local opposition.
Danei Edelen: Danei Edelen leads Southern Ohio Responsible Development and is a local organizer in Brown County, Ohio. She is quoted describing community resistance to the proposed data center and the group’s push for more time, transparency, and study before construction proceeds.
Harry Sudock: Harry Sudock is the chief business officer of CleanSpark, a data-center developer. He is presented as an industry voice arguing that power access, site readiness, and existing infrastructure are the main drivers of where data centers get built.
Daren Shumate: Daren Shumate is the CEO of Shumate Engineering and has long experience in data-center construction. In the article, he argues that newer facilities are designed with water-saving and backup-power safeguards and that data centers are often blamed for broader utility concerns.
Clayton Tucker: Clayton Tucker is the secretary of the Texas Farmers Union and a Democratic candidate for Texas agriculture minister. He is speaking out against data-center expansion because of concerns about water availability, utility costs, and the impact on farmers and rural communities.
Data Center Map: Data Center Map is an infrastructure intelligence and mapping platform that tracks data-center locations and development status. Its data is cited in this report to show how data centers are distributed across the United States and how many are already operating or planned.
Jennifer Dunphy: Jennifer Dunphy is a public health consultant and author who comments on the potential community health implications of industrial development. In this article, she is used as a voice urging caution about the long-term effects of data centers near neighborhoods.
Southern Ohio Responsible Development: Southern Ohio Responsible Development is a grassroots community group in Brown County, Ohio that organizes local opposition to large-scale development projects. In this story, the group is helping lead resistance to a proposed hyperscale data center near Mount Orab and is pushing for a statewide ballot measure to restrict such projects.

Big Tech Buildout: Large hyperscale data centers are commonly associated with major cloud and technology firms that need always-on computing capacity for AI and digital services.
Community Pushback: Opposition to data-center projects has become more organized in local zoning fights, with residents increasingly framing the issue as a neighborhood planning and quality-of-life concern.
Water And Power Concerns: The core public objections in data-center disputes center on water use, electricity demand, noise, and the possibility of strain on local infrastructure.