Data Centers: Daily Notes | November 2, 2026
Opposition to data centers grows: Delhi Township rejects a $10B proposal, El Segundo, Whittier, Caledonia and Poweshiek County pause projects, Hermantown approves Google’s plan over objections, and Louisville protesters march to the mayor’s home. READ MORE.
At A Glance 🔽
- Delhi Township, Michigan trustees voted 6-0 to oppose any data center development in the township, days after a $10 billion-plus, 700-megawatt hyperscale proposal was announced for Holt.
- Poweshiek County, Iowa passed a 12-month moratorium on data centers on a 2-1 vote, keeping the pause in place while the zoning commission drafts permanent rules.
- El Segundo, California extended its data center moratorium until September 2027 as local opposition grows, including from the Wiseburn Unified School District board.
- Whittier, California adopted a 45-day moratorium on permits for new data centers, car washes, massage parlors and detention centers, and the council could extend it on Dec. 8.
- Caledonia, Minnesota approved a 12-month moratorium on data centers to give the planning commission time to study them and draft a zoning code.
- Massillon, Ohio Councilman Mandwel Patterson proposed a “digital infrastructure dividend” that would pay residents at least $200 a year from a net profit tax on future data centers.
- Alpena County, Michigan approved a resolution urging the City of Alpena and local townships to adopt data center moratoriums, since the county has no zoning authority over the facilities.
- Hermantown, Minnesota unanimously approved Google’s proposed data center even though 55 of the 60 people who spoke during public comment opposed it.
- Louisville, Kentucky protesters from No Data Center 502 marched to Mayor Craig Greenberg’s home to oppose a proposed hyperscale data center in southwest Louisville.
Delhi Township, Michigan
Delhi Township trustees voted 6-0 on Oct. 30 to approve a resolution opposing any data center development in the township, days after a $10 billion-plus hyperscale proposal was announced for Holt.
Colorado-based Lighthouse Sustainability and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership announced Oct. 27 that they were pursuing a 700-megawatt data center on 423 acres in the Holt Economic Opportunity Park off College Road. The resolution calls on both to immediately stop all efforts on the proposal, citing overwhelming negative public input. About 300 people packed the meeting, and most of the roughly 50 speakers opposed the project.
Poweshiek County, Iowa
The Poweshiek County Board of Supervisors passed a 12-month moratorium on data centers on Sept. 28, keeping the pause in place until permanent zoning ordinances are adopted.
Resolution 2027-11 passed 2-1, with Vice Chairperson Jacki Bolen voting no because she favored a shorter six-month timeline. The county zoning commission has begun drafting rules, and Sanitation and Zoning Administrator J.D. Griffith said the process will include meetings with the commission and Board of Adjustment before public hearings with the supervisors. No formal data center proposals have been submitted in the county.
El Segundo, California
The El Segundo City Council voted Oct. 21 to extend its data center moratorium until September 2027, as local opposition to the facilities continues to build.
El Observador
The extension follows a September vote by the Wiseburn Unified School District board to oppose data center construction near school sites, with board member Rebecca Hamburg Cappy pointing to air pollution concerns for students. Residents at the council meeting raised worries about data centers’ water and energy use and the potential impact on their utility bills. In July, the developer of a proposed five-story data center in El Segundo pulled its application after a contentious planning committee meeting.
Whittier, California
The Whittier City Council voted to adopt a 45-day moratorium on permits for new data centers, joining several neighboring cities that have paused the facilities.
Christina Gonzalez
The moratorium also covers massage parlors, car washes, and detention centers, though data centers have drawn the most community concern, particularly over their environmental footprint. The council could extend the pause on Dec. 8 for another 10 months and 15 days, with a later extension possible for up to two years, giving the city time to draft permanent zoning language. Councilmember Vicky Santana said the state passed on the chance to regulate data center development during this legislative session.
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Caledonia, Minnesota
The Caledonia City Council approved Ordinance 2026-02 on Oct. 26, putting a 12-month moratorium on data centers within the city.
Charlene Corson Selbee
City Clerk/Administrator Jake Dickson said the moratorium could be lifted early, but he expects the planning commission will need the full year to study data centers and draft a proposed zoning code. The ordinance defines a data center by the principal use of the facility and its equipment, separating it from uses that are accessory or incidental to a primary use.
Massillon, Ohio
Massillon Councilman Mandwel Patterson introduced a “digital infrastructure dividend” that would pay city residents at least $200 a year from a net profit tax on future data centers.
The proposal would create a data center infrastructure fund, with checks sent to residents on or before March 31 each year. Patterson said there would be no cap, and payments could reach $1,000 or $2,000 per resident depending on how many facilities eventually operate in the city. Details are still being worked out, including whether payments would go to all taxpayers or one per household, and whether funds could instead help with water and electric bills. Mayor Jamie Slutz said he supports the idea, though Patterson noted any payments would be years away.
Alpena County, Michigan
The Alpena County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution urging the City of Alpena and local townships to adopt moratoriums on the planning, construction, permitting, or expansion of data centers.
County Administrator Jesse Osmer said the county has no jurisdiction over zoning or approvals for data centers, which fall to cities, villages, and townships, so the resolution serves as a recommendation rather than an ordinance. It calls for a comprehensive study to protect the local ecosystem if a data center is proposed, along with public disclosure of a facility’s power source, water use, utility plans for meeting added demand, and contractual protections such as minimum usage requirements and exit provisions.
Hermantown, Minnesota
The Hermantown City Council unanimously approved Google’s proposed data center at a special meeting Oct. 30, voting yes on each of six agenda items tied to the project.
The meeting was rescheduled from Oct. 26 after residents and members of Stop the Hermantown Data Center chanted “Let them speak,” delaying council proceedings. For the first time, the council limited chamber access, allowing only the first 85 people inside. During a four-hour public comment period, 60 people spoke, with 55 opposing the project and five supporting it. Three speakers were escorted out after refusing to leave the podium when their time ran out.
Louisville, Kentucky
Members of No Data Center 502 marched to Mayor Craig Greenberg’s home in the Cherokee Gardens neighborhood on Nov. 1, protesting the city’s advancement of a proposed hyperscale data center in southwest Louisville.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered near the Daniel Boone Monument outside Cherokee Park before walking to the mayor’s house. The group has opposed the southwest Louisville project led by Virginia-based PowerHouse Data Centers and Louisville-based Poe Companies, which the Planning Commission approved for an expanded footprint of about 1.64 million square feet. Organizers said voters shouldn’t take Greenberg’s public support for regulations banning hyperscale data centers at face value ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The six-month moratorium the Metro Council passed and Greenberg signed in August does not apply to the southwest Louisville project.
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Hazle Twp. (Luzerne Co.) has a draft ordinance that would make data centers a permitted use in its I-1 Industrial District. The township must adopt a fix by Dec. 7, after the 15-building Project Hazelnut campus was denied in 2025. https://t.co/5GsnYvDw4a
— Supercomputers Rock (@supercmptrsrock) November 2, 2026
Google’s own contract said its data center was “not reasonably likely to occur” without $80 million in tax breaks.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) November 2, 2026
A Minnesota town of 10,000 fought back. Google gave them up anyway.
111 letters to 11,250 for a moratorium:
https://t.co/YXbj5PAUGy
A proposed data center campus at the former Landover Mall site in Prince George’s County could face a major hurdle after county leaders changed the rules governing data center development.https://t.co/KbTpeDMavr
— 7News DC (@7NewsDC) November 2, 2026
Alpena County commissioners are calling on Northeast Michigan governments to restrict data center development. #DataCenters #Moratorium.https://t.co/nYgYZdx9m5
— US Data Center Project Tracker (@USDCprojects) November 2, 2026
San Antonio City Council now has final approval over all new data center development in city limits. https://t.co/98kOFQLNP5 pic.twitter.com/UfnZkejbi3
— The Civic San Antonio (@thecivicsatx) November 2, 2026
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