The Data Center Takeover Explained 2026

Sounding the alarm here:

The data center takeover is a coordinated, nationwide plan organized by NaCo, The National Association of Counties. NaCo meets several times a year on a national and regional level.

Since the beginning of 2025, NaCo forums have been instructing over 3000 counties in the United States on how they could bring Al infrastructure to their counties, as well as providing the opportunity to match them up with developers.

That means county commissioners across the United States were getting their ducks in a row from a land use, legislative and developer standpoint before they even brought it to their constituents.

What about all the laws and environmental guidelines that should be preventing this? Well, in July 2025, the White House issued executive orders, entitled Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.

Excerpts from the order: “The Al Action Plan also establishes new categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) for data center-related activities that normally do not have a significant impact on the environment. The plan also calls for utilizing the FAST-41 process to cover all data center and data center energy projects eligible under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015. Furthermore, it explores the need for a nationwide Clean Water Act Section 404 permit, and if adopted, ensures the permit would remove the requirement of a Pre-Construction Notification.”
(READ THAT LAST SENTENCE AGAIN.)

“Additionally, the plan calls for a review of all Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigations commenced to ensure that they do not advance theories of liability that unduly burden Al innovation, and it orders a review of all FTC final orders, consent decrees, and injunctions, with the aim of modifying or setting aside any that unduly burden Al innovation where appropriate.”

In short: THIS IS A COORDINATED, NATIONWIDE EFFORT TO SUBVERT THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

🚨BREAKING:

BLACKROCK CEO LARRY FINK SAYS TRILLIONS FOR AI DATA CENTERS AND POWER GRIDS WILL HAVE TO COME FROM AMERICANS’ SAVINGS AND PENSION FUNDS

SAYS “AMERICANS NEED TO THINK ABOUT GROWING WITH THE UNITED STATES” pic.twitter.com/vhVuXjH8rH

— Midas (@DeFiMidas) May 26, 2026

Erin Brockovich has launched a new interactive website and map tracking data centers across America — and the response has been overwhelming.

BrockovichDataCenter.com

In just the first week, the site logged 1,690 resident complaints, with over 1,800 submissions coming in from 47 states shortly after launch.

Residents are reporting serious issues including:
• Massive water usage draining local supplies
• Sharply rising utility bills for nearby homes
• Constant 24/7 noise from fans and generators disrupting sleep and daily life
• Concerns over e-waste and potential PFAS contamination

This comes from the same Erin Brockovich who famously won a $333 million settlement against PG&E in the 1990s for contaminating drinking water in Hinckley, California.

The map shows operational, under-construction, and proposed AI data centers, allowing people to submit reports with photos and locations.

What the map shows~

• Major AI data centers (operational, under construction, or proposed) across the U.S.

• Overlaid with community-reported concerns (pins from residents emailing in issues).

• You can click markers for details, sources, and reports. It uses a leaflet/OpenStreetMap-based interactive map.

Stats from the site (as of ~May 24, 2026)
• 33 Operational (built & running)

• 44 Under Construction (announced or building)

• 27 Proposed (in pipeline/pending approval)

• Hundreds/thousands of community reports nationwide (earlier reports mentioned 2,700+ submissions from 49 states, with Texas leading heavily).

Many Americans are now asking whether the rapid expansion of data centers is coming at too high a cost to local communities and the environment. via BlackBetty