Democrats Eye Tougher Data Center Regulations as They Regain Control of Congress

Democrats who rode data center discontent to victory in the midterms are expected to pursue strict new regulations on data centers when they take control of Congress in January.The Democratic sweep flipped dozens of House and Senate seats, and a number of those races hinged on broadsides against Republicans for their purported support of the industry. Meanwhile, voters considered more than 40 local measures to constrain data center development, and almost all of them passed.The results are likely to bring new life into Democrats' efforts to add guardrails to the artificial intelligence buildout. But their majority does not go far enough to override a veto from President Donald Trump, who has sought to aggressively promote data centers in the United States, in the pursuit of what he dubs "super intelligence."Polls show broad concerns that the pace of data center construction could drive up power costs, raise land prices, and create environmental problems. Recent Realtor.com® research on data centers found they're increasingly moving into rural areas."If the Democrats take control of Congress, it could be a major problem for data center developers," Balaji Tammabattula, CEO of BaRupO...