The Growing Fight Over AI Data Centers Reaches Western North Carolina
By Marge Farrington | Published 2026-07-02T12:35:09.872Z
News
WNC -- July 2, 2026: As artificial intelligence fuels an unprecedented boom in massive data centers across the United States, a growing number of communities are pushing back. Concerns over water supplies, electricity demand, environmental impacts, and quality of life have sparked protests, lawsuits, moratoriums, and local bans from coast to coast. Now, that debate has reached Western North Carolina.
WNC -- July 2, 2026:
As artificial intelligence fuels an unprecedented boom in massive data centers across the United States, a growing number of communities are pushing back. Concerns over water supplies, electricity demand, environmental impacts, and quality of life have sparked protests, lawsuits, moratoriums, and local bans from coast to coast. Now, that debate has reached Western North Carolina.For many Western North Carolinians, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) was an unfamilia