By Amy Miller ( June 12, 2026, 00:54 GMT | Comment) -- Governors are increasingly abandoning state policies aimed at attracting new data centers powering the artificial intelligence industry as grassroots opposition to development builds across the US. In Texas, Illinois, Utah and Pennsylvania, both Republican and Democratic governors who once touted the benefits of data centers are imposing new conditions on developers to protect water resources and local communities. The goal is to ensure that developers, not constituents, pay for the transmission lines, substations, generation capacity, and water that energy-hungry hyperscale data centers need.Governors are increasingly abandoning state policies aimed at attracting new data centers powering the artificial intelligence industry as grassroots opposition to development builds across the US....
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