Anxiety about technological innovation is suddenly intense and epidemic. When we weren’t paying attention AI went from darling of the stock market to star of its own horror movie. Fear of AI Data Centers and the reckless intellectual blight they represent is spreading to every corner of the country. New York and several other states are taking decisive action. The midterm elections loom, less than three months away. This issue is now so red hot and opposition so intense it could decide who wins the senate seats in Michigan and Ohio and thereby which party controls the United States Senate.
Unless your state follows New York’s moratorium, Electronic Frankenstein is coming to your backyard. If your utility has access to power and water to sell, the voracious data center industry is looking to buy. The average voter doesn’t focus until after Labor Day, you will hear the howling shortly.
These gigantic properties house real-life Terminators. We have been petrified of robots taking over our lives for decades, at least since Flash Gordon battled wicked Ming the Merciless. Now we are frightened for good reason. AI Data Centers are ugly, windowless warehouses in which computers talk to each other, possibly to plot the overthrow of humanity, (only slightly exaggerating). These gargantuan facilities will eat up electricity, thereby draining the Grid. Our utility companies will be forced to upgrade, along with our rates.
Get ready for a new indicator. Side by side with the price of gas will be your electric and water bills. And squatting side-by-side with your local Amazon warehouse, will be an AI Data Center.
They are the future, but their opposition is right now and building. Anywhere there are political activists I guarantee the number one reason for their disquiet is the extravagant expansion of AI Data Centers.
Take my adopted home state of Ohio. Two years ago, Ohio’s long-time Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown lost his bid for reelection to a Trump-led, energized Republican party. That was 2024. Now, in 2026, Brown has powerfully rebounded. He is running against the former Ohio Lt. Governor, Jon Husted who replaced J.D. Vance when Vance was elevated to the Vice Presidency.
Suddenly, the Republican Party has a heavy lift. During his stint as Lt. Governor, Husted supported Data Centers and candidate Brown is not letting Husted or Ohio voters forget it.
“Look what he’s done with Data Centers,” Brown asks a restive crowd during one of his campaign rallies. The crowd boos, “…all 226 of them. Jon Husted led the charge. He was the point man to bring these data centers to Ohio. He delivered giant corporations billions of dollars in sweetheart tax deals. Ohioans now pay thousands more on their utility bills. It’s exactly what people hate about politics. Jon Husted works for politicians not Ohio and we pay for it every day.”
Advocates of the behemoth AI Data Centers launched their explosive expansion in the dark of political night. America was totally distracted by the Second Coming of Donald Trump’s impulsive presidency.
Affordability, Iran, Israel, Gaza, Crypto, Venezuela, etc. Now, the issue of AI Data Centers is too big to hide.