Voters want local governments to have most say on data center projects

By Jon Styf
The Center Square

Americans voters say local governments should have the most say on whether data centers are approved, according to a new poll.

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll found that 50% of those surveyed want local governments to have the most power, 21% think it should be state governments, 11% think the federal government should decide and 7% believe it should be the private companies building the data centers that decide. Twelve percent were not sure.

The results come from a poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from Aug. 12-16 that surveyed registered voters nationally via opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages. The sample included 2,533 respondents comprised of 930 Republicans, 930 Democrats, and 673 Independents. Among independent voters, 330 respondents were classified as true independents, which are individuals who do not lean toward either major party when given the choice. 

Pollster Mike Noble, founder of Noble Predictive Insights, said that each month it seems like the intensity of the issues around data centers ratchets up as they expand across the country.

“People have a lot of issues with it,” Noble said. “This is more about the final say and who pays the cost.”

State and local governments have begun a nationwide push to put in guardrails on how data centers are able to be approved and the tax benefits that they will receive.

States such as Wisconsin have approved sales tax exemptions for data center electricity, construction expenses and both servers and equipment. Wisconsin has foregone $1.5 billion in sales tax revenue to four data center projects in initial construction and then $369 million more annually once the projects are completed.

But now there is pushback against those tax breaks along with a fight to ensure that data centers pay all of the expansion costs to bring large amounts of energy to their facilities. Governor candidate Tom Tiffany, a Republican congressman, has vowed to end the subsidies.

Virginia data center sales tax breaks have been estimated to be worth $1.6 billion and $1.9 billion annually.

“The GOP on a national level is concerned about this data center issue,” Noble said. “They were hoping they wouldn’t have to deal with this issue until the next election.

“Voters want that local control, those guardrails for data centers with power, land, water and structure.”