Everyone Says Datacenter Moratoriums Are Killing the US Buildout. We Mapped All 300 of Them

Key Points:

• Four US states—New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oregon—have enacted moratoriums or restrictions on datacenter development within two months, reflecting rising political tensions over datacenter expansion amid AI-driven growth.
• Despite over 300 local moratoriums nationwide, detailed project-level analysis shows only about 2.3 GW of planned datacenter capacity is genuinely delayed, a small fraction of the more than 38 GW forecasted for 2027, indicating moratoriums have limited immediate impact on overall buildout.
• Moratoriums typically pause new applications rather than revoke existing permits, and many projects can redesign, relocate, or wait out restrictions, which explains why hundreds of moratoriums translate into relatively little actual delay in capacity deployment.
• Local opposition, driven by concerns over electricity costs, water use, land impact, and community effects, is a key factor behind moratoriums, with political campaigns increasingly using datacenter restrictions as election issues, especially in states like Ohio and Michigan.
• The datacenter industry is adapting by shifting toward behind-the-meter power solutions and leveraging existing entitlements, enabling continued construction despite regulatory pauses, and forecasts anticipate significant capacity additions in the coming years.