Global D Report: Bullet Holes Over Data Center Opposition... Braking on 180 Trillion Won Scale as Public Says "No More"

Multiple bullet holes are clearly visible on a front door of a house.

A piece of paper reading "No to Data Center" is placed in front of the door.

Someone fired shots out of resentment toward a city council member who voted in favor of constructing an AI data center.

Conflicts surrounding data centers are intensifying like this in the United States.

In a recent opinion poll, 6 out of 10 respondents answered that they oppose building a data center in their neighborhood.

This figure represents a 12 percentage point increase compared to three months ago.

The biggest reason for opposition is the rise in electricity bills.

To supply massive amounts of power to AI data centers, new power plants or high-voltage transmission lines are needed, and residents argue those costs will be passed on to electricity bills, burdening ordinary households as well.

[Will Scott / Director, Environmental Defense Fund: If you build power plants for large-scale facilities (like data centers), that money should be paid by the wealthiest corporations in the world. Those costs should not be passed on to grandmothers' electricity bills.]

The fact that an enormous amount of water is consumed to cool data centers running 24 hours a day, alongside expectations that local job creation will be lower than anticipated, is also fueling opposition voices.

[Maria Acosta / New Mexico Resident: I know data centers are bad because they use a tremendous amount of water. We live in a desert area, and the water quality is already very poor.]

Consequently, starting with New York state temporarily halting the construction of large-scale data centers for the first time at the state level, more than 100 local governments across the United States have stepped in to put the brakes on data center projects.

In the first quarter of this year alone, more than 70 data center construction projects in the U.S. were suspended or faced setbacks, amounting to a scale of 180 trillion won.

While U.S. President Trump has emphasized economic effects by stating, "I will prevent electricity bill hikes" and "Data centers are money-making machines," growing criticism is causing the issue to emerge as a key debate point for the U.S. midterm elections in November.

Reported by Kim Hyunwoo | Camera filming: Lee Hee-hoon | Video editing: Wi Won-yang | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.