Today's national picture. Local opposition to data centers remains broad, bipartisan, and overwhelmingly focused on water, power/electricity bills, noise, and the scale of proposed campuses. The dominant municipal tool continues to be the temporary moratorium or development "pause," typically paired with a study period to write zoning and ordinance rules.
Genuinely new in the last 24 hours: Springfield, MO's council adopted an 8–0, 120-day moratorium (June 29); Massachusetts Gov. Healey publicly froze the state's 20-year data center tax exemption pending ratepayer/environmental protections (June 29); a developer filed a court appeal of Dickson City, PA's zoning denial (reported June 29); and three matters were on calendars for today, June 30 — Maryland's Supreme Court oral arguments in the Frederick County referendum appeal, a Logan, UT council vote on data center regulation, and an Emporia, KS Planning Commission rezoning vote previously tabled to today.
Official meeting livestreams (last 24 h): No official, full-length municipal meeting livestream or archived recording specifically about data centers, posted by a government body within the past 24 hours, could be confirmed. See that section for details and one older official feed.
At a special meeting on Monday, June 29, the City Council voted 8–0 to adopt a 120-day moratorium on new data center applications, giving staff time to gather public input and research impacts. Community concern over a wave of applications drove the pause.
Gov. Maura Healey is keeping the state's 20-year data center sales-and-use tax exemption on hold, pairing the freeze with new energy/environmental guidance. She said the pause will stay until strong protections are in place against higher gas and electric bills, citing water and grid impacts as guiding concerns.
A developer (Dickson City Development LLC, linked to Kriger Construction) appealed the borough's zoning denial to Lackawanna County court, seeking to build four data centers and three affiliated gas plants producing a combined 400 megawatts above Business Route 6. The appeal challenges the borough's data center ordinance and the Zoning Hearing Board's May 20 decision.
The Frederick County Data Center Referendum Committee — a citizen group that gathered more than 20,000 signatures — is appealing on an accelerated schedule, with oral arguments before the state Supreme Court set for today. Residents fear the county becoming a new "data center alley."
The Logan Municipal Council is slated to meet today to consider data center regulation, following Cache County's adoption of a preemptive 180-day moratorium in unincorporated areas.
The Emporia Planning Commission tabled a rezoning vote tied to a proposed data center to today, June 30. The matter follows a roughly six-hour June 23 meeting dominated by a public hearing on the project.
A staff review of a data center / tower proposal was scheduled for today, with a City Plan Commission public hearing set for August 5.
The Board of Supervisors authorized a revised data center ordinance folding in resident concerns about noise and groundwater depletion — adding well-depletion language, expanded environmental impact requirements, decommissioning rules, quarterly noise reporting, and limited construction hours. The township has received no application; the measure is preemptive.
The council unanimously passed an emergency moratorium and policy framework freezing new large data center siting amid major public outcry over environmental, infrastructure, and economic impacts. Roughly 50 public comments preceded the vote ("We're Not a Company Town").
The council approved a five-month pause on new data centers over 350,000 sq ft, sending it to Mayor Jacob Frey. Residents questioned neighborhood impacts while labor groups noted construction jobs.
The council passed a data center moratorium 3–2 despite a developer threatening litigation.
After ~3 hours of discussion at a packed meeting, commissioners directed the county attorney to draft a one-year moratorium. Concern spiked after a developer described daily water needs of up to 3 million gallons for an 800–1,300-acre gas-powered campus.
Supervisors approved a one-year moratorium on data centers in unincorporated areas; existing/approved projects are untouched. A separate proposed campus near Salix sits on annexed city land outside the moratorium.
The council froze data center development for 180 days and barred projects from drawing borough water, citing two possible developments that could each need more than 1.2 million gallons of water per day.
Norman approved a one-year moratorium (applications suspended until June 9, 2027); Asheville's council approved a one-year moratorium on June 25.
A packed public hearing drew strong opposition to a proposed $19 billion data center, focused on water usage and power consumption.
Residents urged commissioners to deny projects pending details on traffic, watershed, public safety, and noise. Most of the seven proposals omitted power-use estimates and several lacked water projections.
More than 30 residents spoke against a data center proposed for Temple, saying it would consume local resources while offering few jobs ("We don't want this").
Advocates and residents packed a hearing to support a proposed two-year data center moratorium.
Residents lined up to voice water and pollution concerns at a data center committee hearing ("Water is not Republican or Democrat").
Oshkosh is asking staff to draft a moratorium amid water and land-use concerns, following Winnebago County's 12-month pause.
Residents filed a 200-plus-signature petition seeking explicit zoning rules, though the county administrator says the current ordinance already bars data centers as an unlisted use.
A homesteading mother has become a leading voice against a proposed AI data center developers say could cover roughly 3,800 football fields, citing farmland, wildlife, water, and rural character.
Residents fear negative impacts on water resources as multiple data centers are proposed across the region; developers pitch tax base and jobs.
A Meta data center is alleged to have muddied a town's drinking water; the EPA promised an investigation after a congresswoman brought dirty jars of water to a hearing.
Roughly $64 billion in U.S. data center projects have been blocked or delayed by growing local, bipartisan opposition, per Data Center Watch — the backdrop to the local actions above.
Data center presentation to the Winnebago County Board, posted as an official county board meeting recording (referenced in connection with the county's 12-month pause). Included here as an example of a qualifying official meeting feed, though outside the 24-hour window.