Voters back data center bans and moratoriums in nearly every local ballot measure

Ohio had the most at stake. Thirteen municipalities there, including Conneaut, Defiance, Piqua and Urbana, put bans on the ballot, and all 13 were on track to pass on Wednesday morning, Forbes reported. Some of those bans cover only "high impact" sites or facilities drawing more than 25 megawatts. Monroe and Sprigg townships in southern Ohio voted on rural zoning that would effectively shut data centers out; a 1,000-acre site there was being evaluated for Amazon Web Services. In Ashville, more than 80% of voters rejected a data center that is already under construction.

Outside Ohio, El Dorado and Emporia in Kansas approved bans on "high impact" facilities, and North Berwick, Maine, voted to keep out data centers bigger than 25,000 square feet. Janesville, Wisconsin, will now need a majority vote for any project over $450 million at its old General Motors plant. Only Harwood, North Dakota, went the other way: voters there turned down extra review for industrial projects, CNBC reported. Several local counts were still unofficial on Wednesday.

The governors' races matter more for the biggest campuses. Texas governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned on halting new data center approvals until lawmakers pass stronger protections, Construction Review Online reported. Gov. Greg Abbott had already paused permits in September pending an electricity audit, and Texas has 73 projects under construction and 174 planned, Forbes reported, citing U.S. Data Center Map. In Ohio, Amy Acton backs a conditional moratorium unless operators pay all of their utility costs. By Goldman Sachs' estimate, temporary pauses could put about 45% of planned U.S. capacity growth at risk.

Daniel Fisher of the Associated Equipment Distributors told Construction Dive he expects a good share of planned projects to slip, although he and ConstructConnect chief economist Michael Guckes both said demand stays strong. The federal highway bill is stuck too: Congress faces a Dec. 11 deadline, and Fisher and Kristen Swearingen of Associated Builders and Contractors expect an extension into 2027 instead of a long-term bill.