Data Processing & Hosting NAICS 518210

May 2, 2026 - Opposition To New Data Center Construction Increases

• Fourteen states are trying to limit or ban data center construction in mid-2026, according to the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL). The proposals all target new facilities and are often paired with requirements to study the impacts of data centers, according to the NCSL. Proponents argue that moratoriums on data centers will allow additional time to explore their effects on local communities and improve power grid resiliency. Opponents argue that the moratoriums will hamper AI development and hurt local economies. Lawmakers in Maine passed the nation’s first statewide ban on large data centers in April but the legislation was vetoed by Governor Janet Mills.
• President Trump announced that his administration has struck agreements with major tech firms that would make them pay a greater share of the energy cost burden associated with data centers. The infrastructure build-out for artificial intelligence threatens to further tax the electric grid and raise electricity prices, according to Politico. The "rate payer protection pledges" mean that top tech companies will pay more for electricity in areas where they are building new data centers, according to Trump administration officials. President Trump said during his State of the Union Speech that the major tech companies have the obligation to provide for their own power needs and can build their own power plants so that no one's prices will go up. He added that in many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community and very substantially down.

• Data centers around the world may require $6.7 trillion in capital expenditures by 2030 to keep pace with the demand for compute power, according to management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. The hardware, processors, memory, storage, and energy needed to operate these data centers are collectively known as compute power. Data centers equipped to handle AI processing loads are projected to require $5.2 trillion in capital expenditures, while those powering traditional IT applications are projected to require $1.5 trillion in capital expenditures.
• Revenue for computer data processing and hosting firms increased 13.9% year over year and 6.1% quarter over quarter in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the US Census Bureau. Data processing and hosting industry employment decreased slightly and wages for nonsupervisory employees increased slightly during the first two months of 2026, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Data processing and hosting firms kept prices unchanged during the first three months of 2026, according to the BLS.