Institute Index: Data center backlash

Number of data centers that have been built across the U.S.: 4,225*

Percent of data centers nationally that are in Southern states: 4o%

Percent that are in the states of Texas and Virginia alone: 26%

Size of a new Meta data center being built in northeastern Louisiana, which will be the largest data center in the Western Hemisphere: 4 million square feet

Number of football fields that’s equivalent to: 70

Percentage of total U.S. electricity consumption that was used by data centers in 2024: 4%

Amount by which that figure is expected to grow by 2030: at least 133%

Share of Virginia’s total electricity supply consumed by data centers in 2023: 26%

Amount by which one study estimated electricity bills will increase in the U.S. due to data centers and cryptocurrency mining: 8%

Amount the study projected electricity bills could increase in central and northern Virginia: more than 25%

Number of states that give tax breaks and other economic development incentives to companies building data centers nationally: 36

Number of states that disclose which companies are receiving the incentives: 11

Amount that Virginia and Texas have each given in incentives for data centers: $1 billion

Amount by which two Georgia Democrats won their races for the state Public Service Commission this month, running on a platform of fighting electricity bill increases: 26 percentage points

Amount by which Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger won her race for governor, running a platform of demanding tech companies "pay their own way" in the face of a data center-fueled "energy crisis": 15 percentage points

Virginia State House District won in 2025 by Rep. John McAuliff, the first Democrat to win in 30 years, on a platform of opposing data centers he claimed are “tearing apart towns”: H.D. 30

Number of U.S. data center projects that were halted in the second quarter of 2025 due to community and political opposition: 20

Number of counties and cities in Georgia that have passed moratoriums temporarily halting data center development: 8

* The number of data centers depends on how they are defined and which kinds of facilities are included. Other estimates say there are up to 5,427 data centers in the U.S.