11/4/2026

AI Industry News: US Local Opposition to AI Data Centers Grows; OpenAI Proposes New Name and Flexible Power Use

AI業界ニュース：米国でAIデータセンターへの地元の反対が拡大　OpenAIは呼び名の変更や電力の需要調整を打ち出す

Local opposition to building AI data centers is spreading in the United States, and on November 3 voters in 10 states decided 41 local ballot measures on data centers. OpenAI has proposed calling its sites compute campuses and launched the Grid Protectors Program to cut power demand when the grid is under strain. We cover the spread of opposition, how AI companies are responding and the situation in Japan.

Two Sheep compiles major developments in the AI industry from company announcements, media reports and other public information. This article covers growing local opposition to AI data centers in the United States, how OpenAI and other AI companies are responding, and the situation in Japan, as of November 4, 2026.

Key Points

In a March Gallup poll, 71% opposed local AI data centers. Data Center Watch's quarterly tallies total at least 120 projects worth about $200 billion blocked or delayed by opposition in January–June 2026
On November 3, voters in 10 states decided 41 local ballot measures on data centers. In Ohio, at least 14 municipalities reportedly passed bans or other restrictions (unofficial results)
OpenAI has proposed calling its sites compute campuses (per media reports) and launched a program to cut demand when the grid is strained, committing up to 1,000 MW of flexible demand in Georgia
OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft have pledged to pay for grid upgrades and not to raise local power prices. US residential electricity prices are expected to keep rising
Japan is tackling grid connection backlogs and unused reserved capacity, and community guidelines have been issued. In September, it named GX Strategic Zones for data centers, including Hokkaido and Kyushu

1. Opposition Is Spreading

Public Opinion and Blocked or Delayed Projects

Poll: In a Gallup survey (March 2–18, telephone interviews with 1,000 US adults, margin of error ±4 points), 71% opposed building AI data centers in their local area and 48% strongly opposed it. By comparison, 53% opposed a local nuclear power plant
Blocked or delayed projects: According to Data Center Watch, local opposition blocked or delayed at least 75 projects worth about $130 billion in January–March 2026 (the largest single quarter in its tracking) and at least 45 projects worth about $68 billion in April–June. In 2025, projects with disclosed values of at least $156 billion were blocked or delayed
State legislatures: The group says more than 300 state-level data center bills were introduced in the first six weeks of 2026, and statewide moratoriums were proposed in 14 states

The Data Center Watch figures are the group's own tallies. Its reports carry no publication dates, and project-level data is behind a paywall.

November 3 Ballot Measures

Number: According to Ballotpedia, voters in 10 states decided 41 local ballot measures on data center policy on November 3. A yes vote on 28 of them would limit development, and Ohio had the most, with 21
Results: On November 4, Fortune reported unofficial results showing that, of the 21 measures in 18 Ohio municipalities, at least 14 municipalities passed bans or other restrictions. For example, unofficial returns indicate that Sunbury voters approved a charter amendment banning data centers above 25 MW
Earlier votes: In all six measures decided earlier in 2026, majorities favored tighter limits. In Port Washington, Wisconsin, an OpenAI site, voters in April approved by 66.4% a measure requiring voter approval for the city to create a tax incremental district (TID) if its projects cost $10 million or more

State Actions

New York: On July 14, Governor Hochul issued Executive Order No. 62. For the construction or expansion of data centers that use 50 MW or more, it holds permit applications that the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had not yet deemed complete until a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) is completed. The governor's office calls it the nation's first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers and says the review will take up to a year. Local government permits are not covered
Texas (2025): SB 6, enacted in June 2025, sets interconnection rules for large loads of 75 MW or more and requires such loads connecting after 2025 to install equipment that lets grid operator ERCOT curtail them directly during grid emergencies

Electricity Prices and Capacity

PJM capacity market: The 2028/29 capacity auction run by PJM, which operates the grid in all or parts of 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states and Washington, D.C. (results published July 14), cleared at the price cap of $325 per MW-day and fell about 6.8 GW short of the reliability target. PJM attributed a roughly 2 GW rise in forecast demand mainly to data centers (as reported by Utility Dive)
Electricity prices: In its October outlook, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast that average residential electricity prices will rise from 17.3 cents per kWh in 2025 to 18.2 cents in 2026 and 18.7 cents in 2027. It forecasts 2026 wholesale prices in the PJM region to rise 41% from 2025

2. How AI Companies Are Responding

OpenAI: Compute Campuses and Flexible Demand

Naming: On November 1, Axios reported that, as part of a post-midterm policy and PR push, OpenAI plans to call its data centers AI compute campuses. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the term compute campuses to Business Insider, which said OpenAI plans to propose the name. OpenAI has not formally renamed its sites
Disclosure in the report: Axios disclosed in the article that it has a content licensing and technology agreement with OpenAI
Community commitments: According to Axios, the plans also include new community compacts and proposed state legislation giving residents a say in how projects are built and what benefits they receive. OpenAI's Chris Lehane (chief global affairs officer) reportedly said the local debate is healthy and that communities should hold companies accountable
Grid Protectors Program: On November 2, OpenAI announced on its official blog a national program under which its future campuses will reduce power demand when the grid is under strain. The first site is its campus in Effingham County, Georgia, where its contract with utility Georgia Power commits up to 1,000 MW of flexible demand response (equivalent, according to OpenAI, to the average demand of about 700,000 households)
Paying the costs: In the same post, OpenAI says it will pay for the electricity it uses and for the grid infrastructure needed to serve its campuses. It says long-term contracts and financial assurances can protect other customers if a campus is delayed, reduced or canceled. It also acknowledges that flexible demand is no substitute for new power plants and transmission lines

Under the Effingham County plan announced in July, the power contract with Georgia Power is 3.2 GW, delivered in phases from 2028 to 2032. OpenAI has committed that the project will not raise residents' electricity rates, and to closed-loop water cooling, $80 million in community benefits over the project's life and an annual independent audit.

Anthropic and Microsoft

Anthropic (February 11, 2026): Anthropic listed four commitments: to cover grid infrastructure costs (paying 100% of the grid upgrades needed to connect its data centers); to procure new power and protect consumers from price increases (working to bring net-new generation online and, where new generation is not yet online, working with utilities and outside experts to estimate and cover the effect of its demand on prices); to reduce strain on the grid (investing in systems that cut its data centers' power use at peak times, as well as grid optimization tools); and to invest in local communities (creating jobs, addressing environmental impacts with measures such as water-efficient cooling, and partnering with local leaders). For leased capacity, it said it was still exploring further measures
Anthropic's policy (undated): Anthropic's policy page lists community benefit agreements worth tens of millions of dollars per site, declining local tax incentives at future sites, no non-disclosure agreements with public officials, closed-loop air cooling that uses little to no water, and annual third-party-verified impact metrics. It says these apply to every site it owns or leases worldwide
Microsoft (January 13, 2026): Microsoft pledged to pay its way so its data centers do not raise local electricity prices and to replenish more water than it uses. OpenAI says these commitments also apply to the campuses Microsoft builds for OpenAI (January 20, 2026)

3. The Situation in Japan

Watt-bit collaboration: In June 2025, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) published a summary on watt-bit collaboration, calling on power, telecom and data center companies to work together to link power and communications effectively
GX Strategic Zones: On September 11, 2026, METI designated 10 sites in nine prefectures (Hokkaido, Akita, Miyagi, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Toyama, Kagawa, Fukuoka and Kagoshima) as the first batch of GX Strategic Zones for data center clusters. The aim is gigawatt-class clusters within about 10 years, and the designations are conditional on coexistence with local communities and other requirements
Grid connections: A paper from the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (November 2025) notes that in some areas, data center connection applications exceed the power that can be supplied, and that some applicants reserve capacity they do not use. Materials from a September 2026 interministerial meeting set out measures such as allowing contract applications to be cancelled from October 2026 and releasing unused capacity from April 2027
Demand outlook: In the forecast by the Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators (OCCTO), peak demand from new and expanded data centers rises from 640,000 kW in FY2026 to 6.61 million kW in FY2035. Construction delays and plan changes, however, have pushed it later than in the previous forecast
Coexisting with communities: In May 2026, the Japan Data Center Council (JDCC) issued community coexistence guidelines for data centers, covering early explanations to residents and responses on heat, noise, traffic, fuel and water. MIC says it will rate projects that follow the guidelines more highly in subsidy selection from FY2026. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government also published guidelines in March for data centers in harmony with the city

In October, Reuters reported that residents had collected about 800 signatures calling for a public briefing on a large data center campus in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, whose first 50 MW phase is under construction and which is planned to eventually reach 1 GW.

4. What It Means for Data Centers and Compute

In the US, opposition is shifting to concrete issues such as electricity prices, water, tax incentives and resident involvement, and AI companies are now offering terms such as paying costs and flexible demand, not just a new name
In Japan, the spread of data centers to regions with spare power is moving forward alongside efforts to build ways of coexisting with local communities
Data centers that build in flexible demand, batteries or on-site generation also add equipment and operating procedures

We believe that as new data centers spread to regions with spare power far from Tokyo and Osaka, on-site work in remote locations, such as installing equipment, cabling, migrations and equipment shipping, and the network links between sites will matter more. We will continue to watch developments in the US and Japan.

5. About Two Sheep Co., Ltd.

Two Sheep Co., Ltd., headquartered in the Telecom Center Building in Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo, provides on-site work at data centers and the shipping and installation of IT equipment.

24/7/365 Remote Hands: at data centers in Tokyo and Osaka (Equinix TY and OS sites, AT TOKYO CC1 and CC2, NTT and others), we handle server rack-mounting, cabling, part replacement (RMA), status checks and more
International shipping and import/export customs for IT equipment: we arrange transport and customs clearance from overseas all the way into the data center
Migrations, connectivity and optical modules: we handle data center migrations, arrange IP transit and private lines, and sell optical modules (ModuleSheep)
Support in Japanese, English and Chinese: we coordinate between overseas customers and Japanese data centers

Main Sources

About This Article

This article was compiled independently by Two Sheep from announcements by companies and public bodies, media reports and other public information available as of November 4, 2026. The November 3 ballot results are based on unofficial counts, and companies' plans and figures may change.
This article is for information only and does not recommend any company, security or investment.
Companies are named only to illustrate industry trends; their mention does not indicate any business relationship with Two Sheep. Names of companies, products and services are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Contact: Japan@2sheep.jp, or use the contact form on this website.