What do Global Warmings Six Americas think about data centers?

A Spring 2026 survey of 1,060 U.S. adults reveals that a majority of Americans (56%) oppose building data centers in their local areas and 59% believe such developments would increase their electricity bills. There is broad support (73%) for requiring data center developers to offset electricity use by installing rooftop solar or providing weatherization and insulation for local homes. While views vary across the 'Six Americas' segments, opposition to local data centers and support for electricity offsets are common across most groups, including those typically dismissive of global warming.

• A majority of Americans (56%) oppose the construction of data centers in their local communities, with only 15% expressing support. This opposition is most pronounced among the 'Alarmed' (71%) and lowest among the 'Disengaged' (32%).
• Most Americans (59%) expect that the opening of a local data center would increase their electricity bills, while only 5% believe bills would decrease. The 'Alarmed' segment is most likely to expect increases (65%), whereas the 'Disengaged' are most likely to be unsure (42%).
• There is strong general support (73%) for a policy requiring new data centers to offset electricity use by installing rooftop solar or helping to weatherize and insulate nearby homes. This proposal is supported by majorities in all 'Six Americas' segments except the 'Dismissive', where 47% support and 52% oppose it.

APA

N., G., J., E., T., M., J., F., J., C., E., G., J., K., E., M., S., R., & A., L. (2026). What do Global Warmings Six Americas think about data centers? Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/what-do-global-warmings-six-americas-think-about-data-centers/

Chicago

N., Gour,, Ettinger, J., Myers, T., Fine, J., Carman, J., Goddard, E., Kotcher, J., et al. What do Global Warmings Six Americas think about data centers? Center for Climate Change Communication, 2026. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/what-do-global-warmings-six-americas-think-about-data-centers/.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{n2026what, author = {N., Gour, and J., Ettinger, and T., Myers, and J., Fine, and J., Carman, and E., Goddard, and J., Kotcher, and E., Maibach, and S., Rosenthal, and A., Leiserowitz,}, title = {{What do Global Warmings Six Americas think about data centers?}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2026}, month = aug, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/what-do-global-warmings-six-americas-think-about-data-centers/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }