The Data Center Backlash Is Really A Power Project Hangover
Fifteen years ago, local political fights were not about data centers, but energy infrastructure. It was about power plants, transmission
By Patrick Slevin
The debate over America’s infrastructure is accelerating. This page is CIA’s research and analysis hub — featuring official position papers, public opinion research, policy analysis, and original reporting on the political, economic, and community dynamics shaping what gets built in America and what gets stopped.
Featured Research
If you checked the weather this morning, used GPS, streamed music, paid a bill online, sent an email, joined a video call, scrolled social media, used a banking app, ordered groceries, or searched Google, you relied on a data center.
Data centers are not a future technology. They are the infrastructure behind modern life.
CIA conducts original public opinion research on infrastructure issues — understanding how communities view essential projects and what information shapes their perspective.
In Field
CIA is conducting a live-caller and online public opinion survey of Manatee County residents to assess community awareness of data center infrastructure, general attitudes toward large technology facilities, and the concerns most likely to shape local decision-making if a data center were proposed in the county.
Completed: Month Year
Fifteen years ago, local political fights were not about data centers, but energy infrastructure. It was about power plants, transmission
What Networked Opposition Means for Policy and Public Debate
How Data Center Developers Can Win Local Approvals
When Communities Say No, What Leaves With Them?
The infrastructure debate communities aren’t having — but should be
The data center debate has crossed a line. What began as zoning-room opposition over water, power, noise, taxes, and transparency