Data centers face more public opposition than solar, nuclear, and gas plants, threatening AI power buildout
Public resistance to data centers now outpaces opposition to any other power source, adding siting risk to a buildout already straining US grid capacity.
Public opposition to data centers has surpassed resistance to solar installations, nuclear reactors and conventional power plants, Bloomberg reported, a development that complicates the AI-driven power demand wave that energy markets have been pricing as a near-certainty.4
The siting problem sits alongside a demand picture that keeps growing. BloombergNEF's outlook published May 19, 2026 projects data center power demand will reach nearly double the amount the firm forecast back in December 2024, and its analysts expect that volume to exceed what the power grid can accommodate.6 Solar is simultaneously projected to become the largest source of power within a decade, surpassing coal, oil and natural gas, driven by AI electrification alongside industrial demand.2
Fluence Energy illustrated how quickly capital moves on that thesis. Shares closed at $24.16 on May 8, 2026, up 98.2% in a single week after the company disclosed master supply agreements with two hyperscalers and a record $5.6 billion backlog.1 Q1 2026 delivered positive adjusted EBITDA of $2.0 million, the fourth consecutive quarter in the black, with non-GAAP gross margin expanding to 52%.1 Shares are down roughly 39% year to date, leaving the stock well below that peak, but the backlog signals the scale of what hyperscalers are contracting.1
Battery storage firms are seeing surging interest from power-hungry AI data centers, Reuters reported on May 18, 2026, but lengthy grid connection queues and a supply chain heavily dependent on China are hampering the industry's ability to scale.3 Public opposition can extend those queues further, particularly when local permitting becomes contested.
In Northern Nevada, a nuclear commissioner argued that small modular reactors could power data centers in the region. Opponents there object to the land, water and environmental footprint.4 The pattern is being repeated across PJM states, where a new interconnection process called IRAS would push large load connection decisions back to individual states.7
Illinois is moving in that direction. One advocacy group there is supporting the POWER Act, legislation that would require data centers to pay for clean energy to match their grid impacts. Several states in PJM have already devised large load tariffs designed to tie new data center demand to the cost of the grid upgrades it triggers.7 The practical effect is to add cost and time to connections that developers had been modeling as straightforward.
The opposition dynamic is not confined to the United States. Chinese grid operators are resisting plans to boost the share of renewable electricity powering AI, concerned that peak demand at data centers is difficult to forecast and would raise risks for power firms, Oilprice.com reported in June 2026. Industry analysts and officials have flagged the same forecasting problem that US utilities are working through.5 When load is unpredictable, utilities cannot easily plan generation reserves, and regulators tend to respond with caution rather than speed.
The URA uranium ETF gained 4.49% as of August 21, 2026, and the COAL ETF rose 2.40% on the same date, moves consistent with markets hedging toward baseload sources as renewable siting grows uncertain. Those are directional signals, not a definitive read, but they point to where some capital is rotating.
The consensus among analysts tracked in this packet is firmly bullish on AI power demand, with four bullish signals and no bearish weight.1 That consensus assumes the power gets built on the timelines developers are projecting. The siting opposition data suggests those timelines carry more uncertainty than recent equity moves imply.
PJM's IRAS plan and the Illinois POWER Act proceedings are the next concrete markers. If large load tariffs spread across PJM states, the economics of storage, nuclear and gas deals tied to hyperscaler contracts will face repricing. The 98.2% move in Fluence shares in a single week in May 2026 showed how violently capital can rotate into this trade. The opposition data now entering the equation shows the force that could push it back.1,7