Vice President JD Vance on Thursday pushed back against growing public opposition to data centers, arguing that much of the backlash stems from fears that large AI facilities will strain local power grids and raise household electricity bills. Speaking during a White House press briefing, Vance said he had seen polling showing resistance to new projects and acknowledged that "a very large chunk" of the opposition comes from residents who believe "my neighborhood's going to get worse" and "my power bills are going to go up." Vance's comments come as polls suggest skepticism about data centers extends to many of President Donald Trump's supporters. An Economist/YouGov survey conducted August 21-24 found that 47 percent of 2024 Trump voters opposed having a new data center built in their community, compared with 35 percent who supported one.
A majority, 52 percent, also said a local data center would likely drive up power bills. Opposition to data centers extends beyond Trump's political base. A Gallup survey conducted in March found that 7 in 10 Americans opposed building a data center in their local area.
Meanwhile, a July Politico poll found 41 percent would oppose a facility within three miles of their home, up from 28 percent in January. Vance argued that the answer is not to halt data center construction but to expand energy generation alongside it. He said Trump had insisted on "rate payer protection" and that "if you're going to build a data center, you have to feed power back into the grid as opposed to taking power out." He added that the administration has made it easier to build power generation, including nuclear facilities, near major AI projects.
Framing the issue as part of a broader economic agenda, Vance said Trump is trying to make the United States "a nation of builders again" and warned against policies that slow new infrastructure. "We've got to build more power plants," he said. "We cannot be a country that says we're not going to build anything anymore." Trump on Monday doubled down on his support for data centers, warning that communities that reject the projects risk becoming "backwards and poor," even as a growing number of Republicans have backed restrictions, moratoriums and other measures aimed at slowing their expansion and giving local communities a greater role in the approval process.
Trump has argued that data centers bring jobs, investment and tax revenue, and has cast the facilities as critical to the United States' competition with China. Representative Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, told MeidasTouch in response to Trump’s post on Monday: “I guess I’m backwards and poor.” The vice president also tied the debate to competition with China, arguing that American power production has failed to keep pace with demand. He said the backlash against data centers is "downstream of the fact that the United States doesn't build enough power," and warned that expanding energy and AI infrastructure is critical if the U.S. hopes to maintain an edge in artificial intelligence.
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