A growing movement across the country aims to restrict data center developments because of fears about their use of energy, water consumption, and noise pollution.
The suburban city of Aurora, Illinois, west of Chicago, has recently imposed some of the country’s strictest restrictions on data centers, requiring developers to comply with new zoning requirements, energy use rules, water consumption limits, and noise standards.
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“We’re setting this example. We’re taking a leadership role,” Aurora Mayor John Laesch told the Washington Examiner.
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“I think municipalities can cut and paste what we’ve done into legislation as they wait for the states to act … if those municipalities want to have the best interest of the residents in mind,” he added.
A nationwide phenomenon
Aurora’s government is far from the only one trying to put rules on data centers, or ban them altogether.
For instance, Port Washington, Wisconsin, residents earlier this month approved a referendum requiring city leaders to obtain voter approval before granting developers tax incentives exceeding $10 million or more.
Frederick County, Maryland, has also seen grassroots efforts to hold a referendum on data center zoning plans.
Maine state legislators passed a bill to ban data centers until November 2027. However, Gov. Janet Mills (D) on Friday vetoed the bill because it did not include an exemption for a project under development.
Maine would have been the first state to issue a moratorium on data centers.
At least 11 states have proposed some legislation to restrict or ban data center development since late 2025, according to Axios.
A main driver of resistance to data centers is the worry that their use of electricity will drive up prices for everyone. An Energy Department report found that data centers consumed about 4.4% of total U.S. electricity in 2023. The energy consumption is projected to rise to 6.7% to 12% by 2028. Data center growth is expected to accelerate, as the Trump administration has made it a priority to build out more facilities.
The fears in Aurora
Aurora’s restrictions would require any new or expanded data centers to implement on-site renewable energy generation or incorporate on-site energy storage systems.
Aurora has four data centers, and the restrictions were introduced in response to residents’ complaints about noise and vibrations from several of the facilities.
In particular, residents complained about noise from the CyrusOne data center, located less than two miles from a neighborhood. The data center has cooling fans on top of the facility that produce a persistent humming sound that can be heard throughout the area.
The city placed a moratorium on data centers in September 2025 as it worked on restrictions, which were later finalized in late March.
Laura Evans, an Aurora resident who lives near the CyrusOne data center, told the Washington Examiner that the facility’s cooling fans create a constant low hum. She added that the site uses diesel generators, and the neighborhood can smell the exhaust when they are running.
Evans also noted that, last April, the facility’s transformers failed, requiring the generators to run continuously for three days straight, during which time vibrations could be felt inside her home. She added that they have experienced brown-outs and they are now considering putting solar panels on their home to mitigate the high costs.
However, Evans said that the city’s restrictions do not go far enough, citing concerns about noise standards and the proximity of data centers to residential areas.
“We feel living it that it’s not strong enough,” Evans said about the restrictions.
The mayor told the Washington Examiner that, from a legal perspective, the city was unable to regulate the current data centers.
Evans added that there is also a need for nationwide regulations on data centers.
“We are not foolish in the respect that we know that there is a need for data centers, and we fully support them when our quality of life is that affected,” Evans said.
The prospects for federal rules
Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY.) introduced a bill to pause data center construction nationwide until artificial intelligence safeguards are in place.
“AI and robotics are creating the most sweeping technological revolution in the history of humanity,” Sanders said at the time. “The scale, scope, and speed of that change is unprecedented. Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts.”
However, Cy McNeill, senior director of federal affairs at the Data Center Coalition, told the Washington Examiner in a statement that any pause to the build-out of data centers would harm the U.S. economy.
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“Any mandate to halt data center construction, or other proposals that would require rationing access to data, would disrupt our modern economy and increase the cost of living for everyday Americans,” McNeil said.
“It would diminish the quality of services they rely on in their local communities, roll back local tax relief efforts, cut high-wage union and skilled trade jobs, and harm the many businesses and workers who support the expansive data center supply chain. It would result in tax increases or cuts to government services to make up for lost tax revenue from data centers, driving up costs for residents and small businesses,” he added.
