Results from referendums related to artificial intelligence (AI) data centers held on November 3 across 10 states indicate a significant shift in public sentiment. Most measures favored restrictions on development, which could impact the broader AI ecosystem, including semiconductors.
According to The Grid site, a U.S. data center voting aggregation platform, over 14 municipalities in states like Ohio have approved bans or restrictions on AI data centers, while three locations in Maine passed a moratorium halting new permits for a specified period.
A total of 41 measures were voted on, including 21 in Ohio, seven in Illinois, four in Maine, and three in Kansas. Additionally, California, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Wisconsin each had one measure. Among these, 26 measures received support for development restrictions, while 13 sought to allow or support data centers. The remaining two were zoning-related proposals.
Ohio, which ranks fifth in the U.S. for data centers, has plans for approximately $40 billion in AI infrastructure investment by 2030. In Hubbard, over 75% of residents supported a ban on data center construction, while in Pataskala, a large data center ban passed with 73% approval.
Pataskala is located in Licking County, home to data centers for Meta, Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Microsoft. In Ashville, opposition to a data center under construction exceeded 80%. Most measures in Ohio were bans, with four specifically preventing facilities exceeding 25 megawatts.
In Maine, a 180-day moratorium in Wells passed with 82% support, and a six-month moratorium in Wiscasset received 66% approval. In Bloomington, Illinois, an advisory vote recommending a moratorium on large data centers garnered 78% support.
Kansas saw bans on data centers pass in all three cities, while bans in Alhambra, California, and Edgewater, Florida, exceeded 75% approval. Earlier this year, six votes also ended with restrictions. Nottingham, New Hampshire, approved a 12-month permit halt with 90% support, and 90% of voters in Augusta Township, Michigan, favored reversing a data center zoning change.
Previously, New York halted permits for sites over 50 megawatts, and Texas paused environmental permits for data centers until the completion of an audit by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Arizona decided not to accept applications for sales tax exemptions for data centers until June 2029.
The nationwide slowdown in AI data center construction is expected to impact the semiconductor supply chain. Market research firm TrendForce reported in September that the gap between the power demand of U.S. data centers and the actual capacity of the power grid is projected to widen significantly starting in 2028.
TrendForce noted that while the growth in AI server shipments is likely, the key risk lies in timing rather than demand. Servers purchased after 2028 may be installed before securing power, and this risk is concentrated in projects still in the permitting or planning stages.
The report highlighted Texas's audit of data centers awaiting power grid access and Pennsylvania's decision to remove data centers from expedited permitting. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, which supply high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI accelerators, will be directly affected by the moratorium on AI data centers in the U.S.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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