Ben Green, assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and Public Policy, argues in a Harvard Gazette interview that community concerns about data centers are legitimate, citing rising electricity rates, high water use, and limited local economic benefit. Green says data centers typically employ only 20 to 50 staff once operational, and that Virginia and Georgia have collectively surrendered more than a billion dollars in tax revenue through industry breaks. A Pew Research Center poll cited in the piece reflects broad public opposition to data center expansion. Green also references a planned OpenAI Stargate Project site in Saline Township, Michigan, projected to exceed 2 million square feet and consume 1.4 gigawatts of energy.
The interview reflects growing organized resistance that has already blocked multiple data center projects and prompted municipalities to pass development moratoria, creating regulatory risk for developers. Estimates cited in the piece project data centers could account for 10 to 15 percent of total U.S. electricity demand within a few years, a scale that shapes national energy and infrastructure policy debates.
A Harvard Gazette analysis of community opposition to data centers signals growing mainstream academic and media attention to this issue, lending authority to the resistance movement. This is distinct from previously published local opposition stories focused on specific municipalities.