Local revolt slows AI data centres
A recent video highlights organized community opposition in Missouri against AI data-centre builds, framed as a political movement to block local projects. The coverage argues that permit fights, utility concerns and public pushback are becoming a material constraint on where GPU capacity can be sited and energized. (youtube.com)
Voters in Festus, Missouri, just threw out four city council incumbents days after the city approved a $6 billion artificial intelligence data center. (politico.com) Festus, a city of about 12,000 south of St. Louis, approved the project on March 30 in a 6-2 vote after a packed public meeting. The planned site covers 360 wooded acres on the city’s southwest side, and the operator has not been publicly identified. (spectrumlocalnews.com; politico.com) Two days after the April 7 election, Wake Up JeffCo and four property owners sued Festus and developer CRG, seeking to undo the rezoning and development agreement. The suit alleges unlawful private meetings and violations of Missouri’s Sunshine Law, the state’s open-records and open-meetings statute. (stlpr.org) A data center is a warehouse for computers, and an artificial intelligence data center packs in more of the power-hungry chips used to train and run chatbots and image generators. Those chips need large amounts of electricity and cooling, which turns local zoning fights into fights over substations, water lines and tax breaks. (congress.gov; energy.gov) The power numbers are climbing fast. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated U.S. data centers used 176 terawatt-hours in 2023, about 4.4% of national electricity use, and projected 325 to 580 terawatt-hours by 2028. (congress.gov; newscenter.lbl.gov) That pressure is showing up in local politics beyond Festus. On April 7, voters in Port Washington, Wisconsin, approved a referendum by about 66% that requires voter approval for future large development incentives after a fight over a multibillion-dollar data center campus. (wpr.org; tmj4.com) Missouri has already seen one project stall under similar pressure. In August 2025, a developer withdrew its permit application for a 440-acre artificial intelligence data center in St. Charles after residents packed meetings over energy use, water quality and secrecy around the plan. (kcur.org) Another Missouri fight is unfolding in Independence. Residents sued after the city approved tax incentives for Nebius to build a 2.1 million-square-foot hyperscale artificial intelligence facility, while the city argued its charter does not allow a referendum on that ordinance. (kshb.com) Developers and city officials say these projects bring construction work, tax revenue and long-term investment. CRG President Chris McKee said after the Festus vote that the project would create jobs, support local businesses and deliver benefits “for generations.” (spectrumlocalnews.com) In Festus, the next fight is not about computer chips. It is about whether a small city can push a giant power project through after voters, neighbors and a lawsuit all said no. (politico.com; stlpr.org)
