Two high-profile federal lawmakers have introduced a bill that represents the most sweeping effort yet in the U.S. to slow the expansion of data centers, the physical backbone of artificial intelligence that's been criticized for using too much water and power.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said the bill called the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act would pause new data center construction "until strong national safeguards are in place to protect workers, consumers, and communities, defend privacy and civil rights, and ensure these technologies do not harm our environment."
Communities and lawmakers nationwide have pushed back against the proliferation of facilities to support AI that require energy, water for cooling and other systems that have the potential to drive up costs for Americans and harm the environment.
While the bill is expected to face strong opposition in Congress, it reflects efforts underway in more than a dozen states to pass laws that would halt construction or bar local governments from issuing permits for data centers.
In Georgia, for instance, House Bill 1012 would bar counties and cities from issuing permits, licenses or other measures until March 1, 2027, with an exception for approvals issued before July 1 of this year. In New York, a bill would impose a statewide moratorium on permits for new data centers and direct the Public Service Commission to minimize effects on electricity and gas rates.
Spending on data centers continues to outperform essentially all other real estate categories, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors trade group. Major technology firms Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Google parent Alphabet plan to spend more than $650 billion this year alone on real estate and AI networks.
Those companies face various challenges in expanding data centers. Shifting rules and regulations from utilities and government can add "many twists and turns" to data center land acquisition and development, said Ali Greenwood, executive director in Cushman & Wakefield's Global Data Center Advisory Group.
"You're often at the mercy of regulated utility companies constantly changing the rules and deciding how and when to grant power and at what costs, as well as managing community pushback," Greenwood told CoStar News regarding challenges facing data center development.
AI 'safeguards' needed
Even so, the bill would impose a moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers until protections are in place to ensure they "do not increase electricity or utility prices, harm communities or destroy the environment," Sanders said during a news conference on the bill with Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday.
Sanders called for government review and approval of AI products before they are released to make sure that the economic gains from AI robotics "benefit ordinary Americans and not just the billionaire owners of the industry." The sweeping legislation would also ban the export of AI chips to China and other countries until consumer protections are in place.
"Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts," Sanders said. "A moratorium will give us time to understand the risks, time to protect working families, time to defend our democracy and time to ensure that this technology works for all of us, not just the few."
AI uses so much computing power it requires significant construction of facilities that drive up electricity demand and potentially deepen the country's reliance on fossil fuels during a global climate crisis, Sanders added.
A single large, or hyperscale, data center "consumes the same amount of energy in one second as 100,000 households," Ocasio-Cortez said.
"People's energy bills around the country are skyrocketing in order to pay for these AI data centers," she said. "In the last five years, Americans who live near data centers saw their electric bills increase over 267% each month."
Long odds
The bill runs counter to the position of the Trump administration, which said last week that Congress should preempt state AI laws that are too burdensome and address concerns about AI without curbing growth or innovation.
Some Democrats are also concerned that a moratorium could hinder AI innovation and hurt the country's competitive position.
"I refuse to help hand the lead in AI to China,” Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, considered to be among the most conservative members of his party in the chamber, wrote in a post on X.
If passed, a federal moratorium could further complicate efforts to build data centers, which already face such barriers as long delays to secure power connections and local opposition.
Technology companies and other U.S. data center developers are increasingly opting for rural and remote locations for those projects to avoid both community pushback and jacking up electricity costs in more densely populated areas.
"They are also investing in alternative energy sources such as small nuclear reactors and natural gas turbines to reduce energy costs and pressure on local residents and business," said Barbara Denham, lead economist for cities and regions at Oxford Economics, in a report last month from the forecasting firm.
Oxford Economics said Northern Virginia has the nation's highest concentration of data centers and is also seeing the highest level of pending new developments.
Other regions with significant shares of existing U.S. data facilities include New York, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and San Jose, California.