Progressive lawmakers in Congress are introducing legislation that could pause data center construction nationwide.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) said they don’t want any more data centers until there’s regulations around AI and its social and environmental impacts. This comes amid mounting community member concerns.
“A moratorium will give us time,” Sanders said in a March, 25 press conference.
The two have yet to garner public support from either political party, as the Trump administration throws support behind the data center industry, with federal land and streamlined permits.
However, the idea of a data center moratorium has appeared to have transcended party lines in some Mountain West counties.
In the majority Republican Kootenai County in the Idaho Panhandle, officials passed a data center moratorium last year. Community members were concerned about technological overreach, along with water and power use, according to County Commissioner Leslie Duncan.
“We wanted to make sure that, first and foremost, the aquifer was protected,” Duncan explained.
She said the county ended up lifting the moratorium and banning data centers from being located over the aquifer. It also required developers to apply for a conditional use permit, which means there will be opportunities for public comment.
Duncan said cities and counties should pass their own data center moratoriums and regulations, rather than national ones, like what’s being proposed. She said this is because not every place is the same.
“Anytime you have a blanket ordinance or law that blankets everybody and you cannot exercise local control, I find that problematic,” Duncan said.
Kootenai County isn’t the only one to pass this kind of moratorium. Rural Logan County, Colo., had one, but lifted it earlier this year once it passed regulations. The majority of voters there supported President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Larimer County, Colo., which is home to Fort Collins and is politically split, currently has a data center moratorium in effect. The Denver City Council is considering doing the same.
According to Good Jobs First, a national policy resource center, legislation to pause data center construction has been introduced in at least 12 states, and 54 local governments have passed short-term freezes.
The moratorium is just one potential solution to mitigate data center impacts. Seven big tech companies recently signed a Ratepayer Protection Pledge with the Trump administration. The companies pledged to pay for the energy infrastructure needed to power their data centers in order to not pass on costs to households. Critics point out that the agreement is nonbinding.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
