US voters chose limits on data centers in 33 of 45 local votes

US voters pushed back on data centers in the midterm elections. In 33 of 45 local ballot measures across the country, voters chose to limit building, says Redbud Consulting as of Wednesday morning. Winners such as Gina Hinojosa, the next governor of Texas, and the next senator of Michigan want moratoriums, which are stops on new building.

What voters did

• Wells, Maine: a moratorium of 180 days on large data centers.
• Some cities in Ohio: a ban on data centers above 25 megawatts.
• El Dorado, Kansas: a ban on sites with a peak load above 10 megawatts.

What changed

Texas has plans for the second-highest number of data centers. Sherrod Brown won in Ohio. Brown called the rival Senator the face of data centers. Winners in Florida and Iowa also had to speak on data centers.

What is not known

NBC News tells that it is hard to connect the opposition of voters to one result. In Florida, Byron Donalds won. Donalds opposed a ban. A winner in Iowa opposed a moratorium.

Insight: Developers pay towns, but towns hold the vote

In October, Meta and Amazon told that they will each give $1 billion to data center towns. Critics called it propaganda. Local opposition can stop permits. This reads as two sides that wait: developers try to buy consent, but voters can say no. Look for more ballot measures. For builders, local consent reads as a cost of each site.