Voters Push AI Firms to Pay for Data Centers
After 40 of 41 midterm ballot measures went against data centres, OpenAI pledged full power costs and public water and noise disclosure.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Data Centers
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Candidates who promised to freeze new data centre development won governor's races in Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Michigan, and 40 of 41 data centre-related ballot measures in the 2026 midterms went against the facilities. OpenAI responded by publishing a National Community Compact covering future sites it owns and operates, a policy document rather than a shipped product.
Why it matters
Local opposition to data centres is now a measurable electoral force, which puts pressure on AI firms to change how they site and power their compute. Anthropic has flagged moratoriums as a risk to its compute plans, signaling the constraint reaches beyond one company.
The 2026 midterm results are a vote-count record: 40 of 41 data centre ballot measures went against the facilities. Analyst Dan Ives projects 25% to 30% of upcoming data centre capacity will come from Texas, a state whose governor-elect has said already-permitted projects will be allowed to finish.
The players
OpenAI
An AI developer behind the ChatGPT product family, which is training and operating large-scale compute infrastructure.
Sam Altman
OpenAI's chief executive, who led the internal discussion on data centres and public sentiment toward AI.
Anthropic
An AI safety-focused developer of the Claude model family, which has flagged local moratoriums as a risk to its compute plans.
Gina Hinojosa
Texas governor-elect who said projects already permitted in the state will be allowed to finish construction.
Dan Ives
Wedbush Securities technology analyst who projected 25% to 30% of upcoming data centre capacity will come from Texas.
The details
Data centres are the warehouse-scale buildings that house the servers used to train and run AI models, and their power and water draw is what drives local concern. OpenAI's published compact commits it to paying the full cost of the electricity it uses at future sites, publishing site-level water and power use, and releasing independent noise studies before operations begin. It also says it will not ask public officials to sign non-disclosure agreements, except for narrow protections covering security information and trade secrets.
Timeline
Election results on November 3, 2026 showed data centre ballot measures losing in nearly every case.
On November 4, 2026, Sam Altman held an internal Q&A where employees asked about data centres and public mood on AI.
On November 5, 2026, OpenAI published its National Community Compact.
Texas data centre projects already permitted are due for completion in 2027.
The Tech Race
The backlash places data centre siting in direct competition with compute expansion, since firms that once relied on fast local approvals now face elected officials who campaigned against new facilities. Whether competitors such as Anthropic adopt comparable public commitments will show how widely the compact approach spreads.
Residents near proposed sites may see more public disclosure of water and power use and noise studies before construction, if companies follow through on the compact. Because the commitments are policy statements, how they apply to any specific project remains to be seen.
The takeaway
Watch whether Anthropic and other AI developers publish comparable site-level disclosures, which would indicate the compact approach is becoming an industry norm. The Texas projects due for completion in 2027 will test whether permitted construction can proceed despite the political shift.
Further reading
For the wider context of how AI compute is being built out, explore our Data Centers coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Times of India.
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