Climate group says Dem 2028 candidates can ‘seize leadership’ by leaning into Americans’ waning support for data centers

The memo from Climate Power states that “public opinion on data centers is cratering,” with Americans believing “data centers are driving up their utility bills and making the grid less reliable, and they see a broader pattern of pollution and strain on the water and resources of the communities in which they get built.”

The group accused the Trump administration of “railroading the American people into all of it,” saying that “Trump and Republicans have given AI data centers a blank check to raise our utility bills, poison our air, and drain our water.”

The memo said that Democrats can drive a contrast to Republicans “and seize leadership built on three uniting principles that have overwhelming public support”: “Tech companies pay their own way,” “New data centers should be powered by new clean energy—not pollute our air and water,” and “Communities get a real say.”

Climate Power cited polling done for the group, which found that 62 percent of voters are “more likely to support a candidate that would prohibit energy costs associated with serving new data centers from being passed on to residential customers through higher electricity bills,” saying that tech companies should foot the costs associated with energy grid upgrades.

The polling also found that the majority of voters (62 percent) support data centers being powered by wind and solar, and that 77 percent of voters are concerned that “deals with data centers and local communities are being cut without any public input."

The memo concluded, “Voters are desperate for leadership on this issue, and Democrats can seize the mantle. Democrats can also continue to have good faith conversations on the right solution — whether that means real, enforced guardrails or a temporary moratorium — but they can be unified on the problem and whose side they are on. Trump has picked his side. Democrats need to pick theirs.”

While support for data centers isn’t necessarily a party line divide, Jesse Lee, a senior adviser to Climate Power, told Axios that GOP lawmakers will be an "army for data centers" on Trump's behalf if they keep control of the House and Senate following the midterms. While the group declined to say who of the potential 2028 candidates received the memo, Lee said it’s “pretty much everybody that has been in the conversation.”