Data centers are expanding at unprecedented speed. In the past five years, development in the U.S. has increased 17-fold, driven by AI, telehealth, online gaming, and cloud services. As data centers reshape local landscapes and place new demands on electricity and water, communities have raised legitimate concerns about rising utility costs, environmental impact, and changes to neighborhood character.

These concerns are no longer slowing projects at the margins. Between May 2024 and March 2025, $64 billion in U.S. data center developments were canceled or delayed due to community opposition. Google paused a $1 billion Indiana facility over water and energy issues. Microsoft walked away from a 240-acre Wisconsin site after sustained pushback. Two developers withdrew rezoning requests for a 123-acre campus in North Carolina amid organized local resistance. Across the country, 142 activist groups in 24 states have or are now mobilizing around data center development and expansion. The pattern emerging across these cases is not that communities oppose technology, it is that they are against uncertainty. Hyperscalers often underestimate how quickly mistrust forms when residents feel they lack clear information or meaningful engagement.

Public Sentiment Shows Concern - and Openness

Residents’ attitudes toward data centers reflect both caution and a willingness to engage.

A recent national survey from Clayco of 1,000 U.S. residents underscores this nuance. Many respondents expressed concerns about water use, electricity demands, noise and environmental impact, reflecting anxiety about how these facilities may alter daily life. These are grounded, practical worries shaped by local experience.

At the same time, the survey shows openness to development when benefits are clearly communicated:

• 56% of respondents worry that the U.S. is falling behind other countries in building modern infrastructure, and
• 73% say they would support building a data center within 20 miles of their house if the benefits were clearly explained.

These results suggest that residents are not inherently opposed to growth, rather, they are looking for clarity, transparency and a clear picture of community value.

The survey also reveals a consistent knowledge gap:

• 70% understand that data centers play an important role in powering today’s ecosystem;
• Yet more than half do not connect data centers to everyday services like online banking, cloud storage, media streaming, online shopping and emerging AI applications.

This gap – understanding the broad purpose of data centers but not their direct connection to daily life – creates space for confusion and speculation. Without early, clear communication from hyperscalers, this uncertainty hardens into opposition. Communities tend to assume the worst when they feel left out of the process, even unintentionally.

Why Opposition Hardens

To lay the groundwork for sustainable growth, hyperscalers must communicate early and build trust before concerns escalate. When outreach begins late or feels like a formality, projects already under scrutiny push hyperscalers into a defensive posture, attempting to correct misinformation and rebuild credibility at the same time.

Proactive engagement looks different: clearly explaining the project’s purpose, acknowledging local concerns, and demonstrating how development intersects with daily life. Across markets, Eve & Co sees the same dynamic: project owners often focus on technical explanations while communications look for relational signals – whether companies listen, understand context and respect local priorities. This mismatch is one of the most consistent drivers of delay.

Where Hyperscalers Need Support Most

Eve & Co’s approach combines rigorous analytics, on-the-ground qualitative research, and deep community relationships across nearly 5,000 neighborhoods and almost 2,500 local partners. Through this work, we see a repeated, national pattern:

Data centers rarely fail because of the technical aspects of the project. They fail because companies underestimate how trust is built, and how early engagement needs to begin. It is critical to:

• Understand community dynamics before breaking ground.
• Identify social and political risks early.
• Build communication strategies that are clear, credible and responsive.
• Strengthen relationships with trusted local messengers and engage communities in conversations, through dialogues or small group listening sessions.

Data can point to the right strategy, but it is trust that determines whether a project succeeds. Trust is now one of the most significant drivers of project risk, cost and timeline.

The Path Forward

Demand for digital infrastructure will continue to rise, and the stakes for hyperscalers will only increase. Projects that fail to invest early in community understanding and transparent communication will face mounting delays, costly redesigns, or cancellation.

In today’s environment, trust is not an abstract concept. It is a practical requirement for long-term success. Hyperscalers who begin by listening, engaging early and understanding local context will not only avoid roadblocks – they will shape the next decade of digital infrastructure growth in the United States.