Seattle, Washington

The Seattle City Council voted Tuesday to impose a one-year emergency moratorium on new large data centers.

The ordinance halts applications for facilities with electrical capacity over 20 megavolt-amperes, while a companion resolution commits the city to study impacts on the grid, water supply, utility rates, and the economy before writing permanent rules. More than 50 people testified, not one in favor, and councilmembers said they received over 98,000 emails on the issue. Neither Amazon nor Microsoft actually operates data centers inside city limits, so the immediate effect falls on developers. Roughly 30 existing smaller facilities are exempt and can each expand by up to 20 megavolt-amperes.

Statement on data centers - Office of the Mayor

“It is important to know that the City of Seattle has not authorized nor permitted any new data centers. However, the prospect of massive new data centers being built in Seattle has raised understandably intense public alarm. I share community concerns about environmental justice, economic resilience, and impacts of increased costs for Seattle rate payers. That’s why my team […]

Office of the Mayorswilson

Mayor Katie Wilson, who floated the moratorium idea in April, is expected to sign it. Permanent zoning legislation is expected to reach the council by early 2027.

Arizona

Arizona's new budget deal includes a three-year pause on tax exemptions for new data centers, ending months of negotiations between Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican legislative leaders three weeks ahead of their deadline.

The exemption, enacted in 2013, is viewed as a major reason data centers have proliferated across Arizona, now home to more than 150 facilities. The pause does not touch data centers already receiving tax breaks, and companies can still build new facilities without the exemption.

Hobbs had pushed to eliminate the program entirely, calling it a $38 million corporate handout, while Republicans protected it in the earlier budget she vetoed. The compromise heads to a joint Appropriations hearing Wednesday, with a full vote expected Thursday.

Ohio

Ohio lawmakers unveiled a sweeping data center bill that would cut the state's 100% sales tax exemption in half, with a full Senate vote possible just one day after introduction.

Sen. Brian Chavez assembled the package from Select Committee on Data Centers testimony, targeting a tax break that ballooned to roughly $1.6 billion in the last year. Most projects would see a 50% exemption, with 75% available to projects built on brownfields that bring their own power. The bill also caps local property tax abatements at 50%, ends data centers' access to Ohio's 30-year mega project grant, requires water use reporting and conservation practices such as closed loop cooling, and directs the PUCO to create a data center rate class.

The Senate Energy Committee was lined up to advance the bill Wednesday morning. Sen. Bill DeMora criticized the rushed timeline and argued the bill's NDA provision stops short of actually banning nondisclosure agreements.

Harford County, Maryland

The Harford County Council voted Tuesday night to ban data centers from every zoning district in the county. Forty-six speakers addressed the council for and against the ban, with overflow crowds waiting outside.

Council President Patrick Vincenti called the vote a no-brainer, and members said they're open to amending the bill's language in the future. The vote completes the fast-track path the council chose in May, when it scrapped a separate moratorium bill in favor of emergency legislation for a permanent prohibition.

The Maryland Tech Council called the bill vague and legally dubious, warning it forecloses a generational economic opportunity and opens the county to lawsuits. State Sen. JB Jennings expects the issue to resurface in Annapolis next session.

Birmingham, Alabama

Data Centers In Birmingham | City of Birmingham, Alabama

What residents need to know about data centers in birmingham

City of Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham's City Council approved new data center zoning regulations as roughly 300 people crowded City Hall, with about 100 more waiting outside in the heat well into the afternoon for their turn to speak.

The rules set 20 conditions for hyperscale data centers, including a 5-acre minimum lot size, 500-foot setbacks from residential properties, mandatory closed-loop cooling, and a ban on diesel or gas power generation outside of emergencies. Many objected to the removal of a special exception process that could have provided public hearings for hyperscale projects; applications meeting all 20 conditions now require no hearing at all. The regulations tentatively take effect June 20.

El Paso, Texas

El Paso's City Council voted to keep the city's incentive agreement with Meta in place, rejecting a proposal that could have led to its termination after seven hours of public comment.

The 2023 agreement grants Meta an 80% break on city taxes for 25 years, applied to the company's full $10 billion investment in the Northeast El Paso data center. Opponents pressed concerns about groundwater, electricity demand, and air pollution, and argued the deal creates too few jobs; it commits Meta to just 50 permanent positions, though the company says it will employ at least 300. An attorney with a public law firm estimated the city could be liable for $800 million if it broke the contract.

The city estimates the data center will pay about $15 million a year in city taxes, making Meta its biggest taxpayer. Opponents chanted threats to vote members out after the meeting; four of the council seats are on the November ballot.

Nashville, Tennessee

Metro Council advanced a temporary moratorium on data centers across Davidson County clearing the first of three required readings.

The ordinance would pause acceptance and approval of zoning, building, and grading applications for data centers while leaving existing facilities untouched. It could affect at least two proposals: the DC Blox project next to the Nashville Zoo and another at Fisk University. Councilmember Delishia Porterfield warned the ordinance's definition of a data center is too broad and could invite legal challenges.

Sign the Petition

Nashville Zoo Says No to Proposed Data Center

Change.org

The zoo petition has now topped 360,000 signatures, and revised plans for the site include a second, much larger building: three stories, 202,000 square feet, and 40 megawatts of capacity, alongside the original one-story, 69,000-square-foot proposal. Zoo leaders have filed a zoning appeal seeking to overturn DC Blox's permits.

Edgerton, Kansas

Edgerton's planning commission denied DAMAC Digital's application for a $700 million data center on about 54 acres in southern Johnson County, after putting the proposal on hold last month.

🏢 DAMAC Digital already owns the warehouse and land at the site, which is zoned for data center use, leaving the door open for a new application. Opponents say they expect exactly that and plan to keep organizing.

The rejection lands as data center resistance spreads across Johnson County, where several communities have called on city leaders for moratoriums. Edgerton's City Council is expected to take up a moratorium discussion at its meeting Thursday, June 11.

West Haven, Connecticut

West Haven's City Council approved a one-year moratorium on new data centers, preemptively hitting the brakes so the city can craft regulations and restrictions first.

Mayor Dorinda Borer proposed the resolution after hearing from fellow mayors at a United States Conference of Mayors event about similar moratoriums. She warned the city could face legal liability if it rejected a data center proposal with no regulatory language on the books; the Planning and Zoning Commission currently has none. Server rooms incidental to a development's principal use are exempt.

Southaven, Mississippi

Three Mississippi residents filed a proposed class action against xAI, SpaceX, and MZX Tech over noise and vibrations from gas-fired turbines powering AI data centers near Southaven. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oxford, describes the noise as "omnipresent and inescapable" and seeks damages for emotional distress and diminished property values on behalf of a class estimated at more than 10,000 residents. Elon Musk is not personally named as a defendant.

The case adds to xAI's legal exposure in Mississippi, where the company already faces a separate NAACP lawsuit alleging environmental violations, a case that has drawn interest from the U.S. Justice Department.

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Relevant past daily notes called out today.

Data Centers: Daily Notes | May 20, 2026

St. Charles bans data centers; Harford County fast-tracks emergency ban; Jackson tables moratorium after zoning debate; Lufkin protesters blocked from speaking at council meeting.

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Data Centers: Daily Notes | June 8, 2026

Today in Data Centers. New York clears the nation’s first statewide moratorium, Illinois and Pennsylvania move to rein in incentives and hyperscale growth, and local fights flare from El Paso to Nashville.

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