Powering the Future, Paying the Price: Data Centers, Democracy, and the 2026 Midterm Elections
Data centers as a lightening rod in American democracy, with midterms on the horizon
A paradox is driving the 2026 US midterm elections. America’s artificial intelligence race has made data centers a defining political issue — forcing congressional candidates to take sides and generating opposition that cuts across party lines. Surging electricity bills have also turned Big Tech into a populist villain in election states. Communities hosting data centers, which consume vast amounts of water, generate noise, and strain the already fragile grid, are voting out the politicians that welcomed these massive installations.
Yet the grid crisis cuts both ways. While grassroots opposition stalls construction, China is adding electricity capacity at eight times America’s rate. Washington insists that AI infrastructure is indispensable to America’s competitiveness. To win this technological contest, the United States must build at extraordinary speed and scale — through democratic institutions that give local communities the power to say no. This lecture examines how data centers have become a lightning rod in American democracy.
Meet the speaker
Alice Hill is the David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment at the Council on Foreign Relations and a leading expert on climate change risks and responses. She holds a BA (with distinction) in history and economics from Stanford University and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. Hill…
