00:00A leaked trove of more than a thousand pages reveals that federal agencies are now monitoring
00:05ordinary Americans who show up to protest data centers, labeling them a brand new kind of
00:12extremist. Meanwhile, New York just became the first state to pass a data center moratorium.
00:19An Illinois village revolted against its third project, and a Georgia data center quietly
00:25drained 30 million gallons of water. Here's what's unfolding right now.
00:31It sounds like something out of a dystopian novel, but it's real, according to more than a thousand
00:38pages of unpublished reports obtained by Wired. The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI,
00:45and regional fusion centers have been quietly monitoring Americans who protest data centers,
00:51grouping them under a brand new label, anti-tech violent extremists. The documents show authorities
00:59tracking local town halls, public budget meetings, and environmental protests where residents raise
01:06concerns about noise, water use, and soaring utility bills. A fusion center in Philadelphia even warned
01:14that, quote, disruptive First Amendment activity is an indicator of extremist risk. Critics point out
01:22that this term appears in no public extremism guide, and warn it dangerously blurs the line between
01:28legitimate protest and domestic terrorism. For thousands of Americans simply fighting projects
01:35in their own backyards, that's a chilling development. That grassroots opposition is now reshaping state law,
01:43and New York just made history. In the final hours of its 2026 legislative session,
01:50the New York State Legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act,
01:56a first-in-the-nation statewide moratorium on large data centers. The bill cleared the Senate 44-16
02:04in the Assembly 102-2. 39. It would impose a one-year pause on permits for any data center drawing
02:1220
02:13megawatts or more, while requiring environmental impact reports, new energy efficiency and labor
02:20standards, transparency rules, and protections for ratepayers. The bill now sits on Governor Kathy Hochul's
02:29desk. She hasn't taken a public position, saying only that she'll review it if she signs.
02:36New York becomes the first state in America to freeze data center development statewide.
02:42A potential turning point for the entire industry.
02:47But you don't need a state legislature to stop a data center. Sometimes an angry room full of neighbors
02:53is enough. In Hoffman Estates, Illinois, the Village Plan Commission voted 4-2 to reject a
03:01rezoning request for a new data center. After a meeting that ran nearly three hours and spilled
03:07out into the hallway. Construction is already underway at two other data center sites in the village.
03:14And residents who packed the room were overwhelmingly opposed to a third.
03:19Their concerns echoed a pattern now playing out nationwide. Noise, water use, strain on the electrical grid,
03:28and the fear that quiet suburban communities are being turned into industrial zones.
03:34It's a striking example of how local zoning boards, not Congress, not the courts, have quietly become
03:42the front line in America's data center fight. And the reason so many of these fights keep erupting
03:49comes down to one thing. Power. The AI build-out is overwhelming an aging electrical grid at
03:56breathtaking speed. U.S. data center electricity demand has nearly doubled in just three years.
04:03Jumping from 23 gigawatts in 2023 to roughly 42 gigawatts today. With some forecasts projecting it
04:12could nearly triple by the end of the decade. The strain is already showing. PJM Interconnection,
04:19the largest grid operator in the country, serving 65 million people across 13 states. Projects it will
04:28fall a full 6 gigawatts short of its reliability requirements in 2027. Capacity market prices in that
04:36region have surged more than 800% in a single delivery year. Costs that ultimately land on ordinary
04:44households. With much of the grid built decades ago, experts are now openly warning of a looming crisis.
04:52The pressure on the grid is only half the story. Water tells the other half. And one Georgia case
04:59shows how quietly it can go wrong. In Fayette County, just south of Atlanta, residents of an affluent
05:07neighborhood called Annalise Park noticed their taps slowing to a trickle. An investigation revealed
05:13the cause. A massive data center campus operated by quality technology services had been draining the
05:20county's water supply for months without the utility's knowledge. Officials discovered two industrial-scale
05:28water hookups. One connected without any notice. The other unbilled for more than 29 million gallons.
05:35The company owes nearly $150,000. And all of this happened while local residents were under water
05:43conservation restrictions. The site spanned 615 acres and could eventually grow to 16 buildings.
05:52Making it one of the largest data center projects in the entire country.
05:58State lawmakers are taking notice. And a wave of new rules takes effect this very week.
06:05In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 484, which becomes law on July 1st. It bars
06:13utilities from passing data center costs onto residential and small business customers. Requires
06:20large users of 50 megawatts or more to pay their full cost of service. Tightens aquifer permitting.
06:28And preserves the right of local governments to say no. Florida isn't alone. Oklahoma enacted similar
06:35cost allocation rules for large users. And Washington tied big data centers to clean energy deadlines.
06:43At the same time, Arizona, Illinois, and Ohio are all pausing or freezing their data center tax
06:50incentives starting July 1st across. More than 30 states. Over 300 data center bills have been filed this
06:58year. A decisive shift from luring the industry to regulating it and demanding it pay its own way.
07:06Yet despite that regulatory wave, construction is charging ahead, and Texas remains the epicenter.
07:14Developer Cloudburst, working with its partner Evolve, is building a 1.2 gigawatt flagship AI data center
07:22campus in the fast-growing corridor between Austin and San Antonio, straddling Guadalupe and
07:30Hays counties near San Marcos and New Brownfuls. The company calls its facilities next-generation
07:36gigacenters. Purpose built for high-density AI workloads with advanced cooling and behind-the-meter power.
07:44To feed that enormous appetite, Cloudburst secured a long-term natural gas supply deal with Energy
07:51Transfers Oasis pipeline. Delivering up to 450,000 million British thermal units per day.
07:59Enough to generate more than 1.8 gigawatts of on-site power.
08:04The first 50-megawatt phase is expected to go live in the fourth quarter of this year.
08:10In one of the hottest data center regions in the entire nation.
08:15And the financial commitment behind all this construction is staggering.
08:20On June 30, Digital Realty announced it had agreed to buy out Blackstone's stake in three fully leased data.
08:28Centers in Northern Virginia, the heart of the world's largest data center market.
08:34The deal values the portfolio at $7.8 billion.
08:38Digital Realty is paying roughly $3.5 billion for Blackstone's 64.
08:44Percent equity interest, about $1.2 billion in cash and $2.3 billion in stock.
08:51The three buildings, two in Manassas and one on the Digital Dulles campus in Stirling,
08:58together hold 288 megawatts of capacity and are 100% leased to investment-grade hyperscale customers.
09:07It's a vivid snapshot of just how much capital is now chasing finished income-producing data centers,
09:15even as communities across the country push back against building new ones.
09:28It helps us cover more of these stories.
09:33It helps us cover more of these stories.
09:42You
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