The Economist: Data-Center Backlash Is Now a National Story and a Policy Test

The Economist's June 27 cover story on America's data-center backlash puts hard numbers on a trend Floridians have watched locally: at least 20 projects worth $42 billion cancelled in the first quarter of 2026 alone, moratoriums spreading from Michigan to Texas, and even longtime hub Loudoun County, Virginia tightening its rules. But the piece also identifies what separates durable markets from stalled ones, binding requirements that data centers pay for their own power capacity, a model The Economist notes works better than voluntary pledges. That's the same cost-allocation architecture Florida wrote into law with SB 484, which requires large data centers to pay their full cost of service to local utilities before the state's hyperscale wave arrives.

The article also examines the water-use debate, noting the most-cited consumption claims stemmed from a serious miscalculation.

Attribution: Originally published in The Economist, June 27, 2026: "America's data-centre backlash is putting the AI boom at risk."

Read the full story → https://www.economist.com/business/2026/06/23/americas-data-centre-backlash-puts-the-ai-boom-at-risk (subscription required)