County data shows data center backlash rarely spills over to solar or storage

Learnewable’s analysis of 3,142 U.S. counties finds that opposition to data centers is usually technology-specific, while solar and battery storage remain neutral or favorable in most of the same places. The findings could shape where developers focus zoning fights, and where residents separate one project from broader development concerns.

Why it matters: - Opposition to data centers does not usually mean opposition to all energy or infrastructure projects. - Solar and battery storage remain broadly feasible in many counties where data centers face resistance. - The split matters for developers facing zoning fights and for local residents weighing project-specific tradeoffs.

What happened: - Learnewable analyzed local sentiment and permitting conditions across 3,142 U.S. counties for solar, battery storage and data-center feasibility. - The September analysis scored each technology on a −2 to +2 scale. - Comparing technologies within each county showed that data-center resistance rarely extends to solar or storage.

The details: - Thirteen counties, or 0.4%, have enacted prohibitions or moratoria on all three technologies. - Forty-eight counties rate unfavorable for all three technologies. - By contrast, 282 counties restrict data centers alone. - Of the 802 counties unfavorable for data centers, 578, or 72%, are neutral or better for both solar and storage. - Another 115 counties are favorable for at least one of those two technologies. - Correlations between technology scores range from 0.2 to 0.3, meaning a county’s stance on one technology is only a weak predictor of its stance on another. - Among 974 counties with negative data-center sentiment, 58% have positive sentiment toward solar and 74% toward storage. - Nearly half, 49%, are positive toward both solar and storage. - Counties hosting ten or more operating data centers show stronger resistance to new facilities. - In those counties, 66% have negative sentiment toward new data centers. - Twenty-nine percent carry the most unfavorable sentiment rating, about three times the share in counties with no facilities, at 9%. - In those same counties, solar sentiment is +0.49 and storage sentiment is +0.65. - Those solar and storage scores are statistically indistinguishable from counties without data centers, at +0.47 and +0.76. - Negative data-center sentiment rises from 13% of counties in the least-populous quartile to 55% in the most populous quartile. - Average data-center sentiment falls from +0.18 to −0.49 across that population range. - The population effect is smaller for solar, where negative sentiment rises from 12% to 29%, and storage, where it rises from 4% to 14%. - Counties with a data-center-specific backlash have a median population near 60,000, compared with 26,000 nationally. - Those counties are nearly twice as likely to host a facility, at 20% versus 11%. - Twenty-one states with at least ten counties average positive for solar and storage but negative for data centers. - Florida shows the largest split, with +0.27 for solar, +0.30 for storage and −0.84 for data centers. - Florida also has data-center restrictions in 30% of its counties. - New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina and Pennsylvania show the same pattern of solar and storage positivity alongside data-center negativity. - The Northeast averages −0.75 for data centers, with restrictions in 34% of counties. - The Northeast averages −0.02 for solar and +0.09 for storage. - Twelve states average positive for data centers. - Those states are West Virginia, Mississippi, Idaho, Alaska, Louisiana, Montana, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, North Dakota and Nebraska. - All twelve are in the low-density interior and Deep South. - Storage is the most accepted technology in every region. - Storage has the highest national feasibility average, at +0.23. - Storage has the lowest restriction rate, at 2.2%. - Fewer than 10% of counties show negative sentiment toward storage. - Storage ranks first, followed by solar and then data centers, across the Northeast, Midwest, South and West.

Between the lines: - The data suggest residents often object to a data center’s local impacts rather than to development itself. - For developers, zoning is the biggest hurdle in 363 counties that combine supportive sentiment with restrictive zoning for data centers. - Those counties are concentrated in Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee and Kansas. - In those places, ordinance changes are central to feasibility. - For solar and storage developers, strong opposition to data centers is not a reliable warning sign of broader community resistance. - In most counties with the strongest data-center backlash, solar and storage remain neutral or favorable. - The analysis also suggests local debates may hinge on project specifics such as electricity demand, water use, noise, tax incentives and local benefits.

What's next: - Developers will likely keep focusing on zoning and ordinance changes in counties where sentiment is supportive but rules block projects. - Local officials and residents may use county-level sentiment as a screening tool, while still evaluating each proposal on its own merits. - Dickens County, Texas, is the only county rated favorable for all three technologies this month. - More information is available in Learnewable's LinkedIn post.

The bottom line: - County-by-county sentiment shows data-center opposition is usually specific to that use case, not a blanket rejection of solar, storage or development more broadly.