Residents there have spent months fighting a proposed data center campus, a local battle that now reflects a national shift: a new POLITICO Poll found that American attitudes toward data centers have soured dramatically and become sharply polarized along party lines over the past six months.

The survey, conducted in late March, reveals that 44 percent of voters now oppose new data center construction in their communities, up from 36 percent six months ago. Support has dropped to 33 percent from 38 percent in the same period. The remaining respondents were undecided or said they had no opinion. The findings mark a significant reversal for an industry that was once seen as a relatively uncontroversial engine of local economic development.

The most striking divide is partisan. Sixty-one percent of Democrats now say they oppose new data centers, compared to just 27 percent of Republicans. Six months ago, Democratic opposition stood at 41 percent, meaning the share of Democrats who object has grown by half in a single polling window. Republican opposition, by contrast, rose only modestly from 22 percent. Independents fell in between, with 42 percent opposed.

Environmental Concerns and Local Pushback

Industry analysts attribute the growing resistance to a confluence of factors, chief among them the immense energy and water demands of the facilities. Data centers, which power cloud computing and artificial intelligence models, can consume as much electricity as a small city and require vast amounts of water for cooling. In drought-prone regions and communities already grappling with strained power grids, those demands have become a flashpoint.

Local opposition has coalesced into organized campaigns in states including Virginia, Arizona and Oregon. In Northern Virginia, which hosts the world’s largest concentration of data centers, residents have protested noise pollution and the strain on residential power supplies. The poll suggests these localized grievances have begun to shape national opinion, with 58 percent of voters now saying they are concerned about the environmental impact of data centers, up from 49 percent six months ago.

The technology industry has pushed back, arguing that data centers are critical infrastructure for the digital economy and that modern facilities are increasingly efficient. Trade groups have also pointed to job creation and tax revenue as key benefits. But the poll indicates that those arguments are losing traction, particularly among Democratic voters who prioritize climate action and community health over economic growth.

The political implications are already emerging. Several Democratic lawmakers in states with heavy data center development have introduced bills to impose stricter environmental reviews or moratoriums on new construction. Meanwhile, Republican-led states have moved to fast-track permits and offer tax incentives. The poll suggests that these diverging policy approaches are not just following public opinion but may be reinforcing it, as voters become more aware of the trade-offs involved in hosting the backbone of the internet.