Source: Ars Technica
A major data center expansion in Utah was scaled back 50% due to local opposition. The project's dramatic reduction shows communities are no longer accepting data centers as inevitable—they're negotiating around water usage, energy demands, and sprawl, forcing companies to recalculate where and how big they can build. Tech infrastructure essential to cloud computing and AI now faces real friction from land-use and resource concerns. Data center geography is shifting away from convenient locations and toward places where operators can secure both local consent and regulatory approval.